Touristic destinations and coastal cities: Evaluation of the integrally planned center Los Cabos, Mexico forty years from its foundation

Abstract

Tourism constitutes the more dynamic activity in some coastal areas of Mexico. This paper has as a goal to describe and analyse touristic development and to value its economic, environmental and social impact in the coastal area of the "Integrally Planned Center of Los Cabos". Descriptive analytic statistical techniques are applied, based on the methodology of indicators of sustainable development for touristic destinations of the World Tourism Organization. The research descriptive considering two analysis periods: the year 2000, when the destination reaches maturity or consolidation, and 2015, year that represents an inflection point in the touristic, economic and social matters, this because of the effects of the "Odile" hurricane, situation that propitiate a relative process of resilience in Los Cabos. The document incorporates three sections; first the analytic and contextual framework is exposed which describes the Los Cabos evolution since its creation as an international touristic destination and the impact that such activity has propitiated on the local sustainable development in the coastal touristic cities belonging to the conurbation of San Jose del Cabo-Cabo San Lucas. Afterwards, we present the methodology and techniques on which the research is based on, highlighting the calculation of the touristic competitiveness indicators, and urban, social and environmental development. In the third section, the results refer that-economically-the destinations has reached certain competitiveness, however, the urban, social and environmental indicators in the cities being studied, showed a relative regression on the comparative evaluation of 2000 and 2015.

Tourist destinations with asymmetrical local development: the ‘integrally planned tourist centres’ of Los Cabos and Loreto, Baja California Sur (Mexico)

“…Among these are the excessive use of water by hotels, the degradation of natural landscapes, badly paid and unstable employment, a low proportion of the local population in the labour market and their nil participation in planning and development decision-making processes. Montaño et al [16] found that Los Cabos has suffered great environmental damage, especially with respect to the overexploitation of underground water sources, contamination of the land, and loss of land and marine animal and vegetable species-As regards social aspects, the great increase in tourism activity aggravated social problems, brought to the fore issues such as drug addictions and insecurity and exerted enormous pressures on urban land and housing.…”