Spatial patterns on tourism establishments in five CIP´s in Mexico, 2010–2022

Abstract

Studies on the spatial patterns of economic activity contribute to economic performance management, planning, and promotion. Investors, policymakers, and social organizations have access to valuable information on the concentration and location of activity. Spatial patterns of tourism have been studied to better organize tourist flows, optimize existing infrastructure, plan new facilities, and promote new destinations. In the late 1960s, the Central Mexican government started projects aimed at constructing large tourism facilities primarily for foreign visitors. These were called centros integralmente planeados or “fully planned centers” (CIP’s) and were headed by Fondo Nacional de Fomento al Turismo (National Tourism Promotion Fund) FONATUR. The objective of this study is to explore the spatial distribution patterns of tourism establishments in five municipalities where CIP?s are located. The study uses exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) tools, such as average nearest neighbor index, standard deviation ellipse, spatial kernel density, global and local indicator of spatial autocorrelation, applied to geographic information system (GIS) data representing tourism establishments. The results show changes in establishment distribution and orientation, as well as spatial concentration in all cases and years. All CIP?s experienced a significant reduction in establishments, particularly small and medium-sized businesses. This paper is one of the first to analyze simultaneously the spatial distribution and concentration of tourism establishments in five municipalities where CIP’s are located.