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Territorial dynamics of cultural tourism in Izamal, Yucatan, Mexico

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Abstract

The aim of this paper is to reveal the organization and territorial dynamics of tourism in Izamal, a town located in the Mayan territory in the southeastern Mexican state of Yucatan. Through the analysis of territorial elements such as touristic resources, support services for tourism, infrastructure, communications nets and visitors flows, the structure integrating the tourist destination will be revealed. Special emphasis will be focused on cultural resources. The results show that tourist attractions in Izamal are associated to its history and culture. Despite the great potential of territorial resources for tourism, Izamal is contesting with other close destinations such as Merida, Valladolid, Chichen Itza and Cancun. The nearness to these sites leaves Izamal as a secondary destination limited to 1-day visits. Regarding the global context, the town can be considered an international destination visited by travellers coming from the five continents. Due to the presence of Our Lady of Izamal, important flows of regional visitors (motivated by faith) arrive to Izamal, especially during religious festivities. Thus, non-regional visitors see the town as a secondary destination but the city also keeps a symbolic significance among regional inhabitants. Tourism dynamics inside the historic town appear as limited to a few spots inside a small perimeter where most of tourist services are located, provoking the segregation of large districts of the urban space.

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Notes

  1. Zapoteco is the language of the homonymous ethnic group, who settle mainly in Oaxaca state, in the South of Mexico.

  2. A Tentative List is an inventory of those properties that each State Party intends to consider for nomination (http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/).

  3. Plant used for cooking and medicinal use. It’s abundant in southern Mexico and Central America. The scientific name is Cnidoscolus chayamansa McVaugh (http://www.medicinatradicionalmexicana.unam.mx/monografia.php?l=3&t=Chaya&id=7157 Accessed April 27, 2015).

  4. Red–orange species extracted from the seeds of a small bush whose botanical name is Bixa Orellana. It’s widely used in the gastronomy of southern Mexican states (http://www.conabio.gob.mx/conocimiento/info_especies/arboles/doctos/13-bixac1m.PDF Accessed April 27, 2015).

  5. In Mexico, locations with more than 2500 inhabitants are considered urban settlements (http://cuentame.inegi.org.mx/poblacion/rur_urb.aspx?tema=P. Accessed May 05, 2015).

  6. Data calculated using ArcGis and the information supplied by the tourism brochure.

  7. Is not the total amount of visitors registered; there’s a gap in the register book between May and August. During the fieldwork, the Center’s manager didn’t allow to see the pages corresponding to those months.

  8. It corresponds to an indepedent contest organized via Internet by New Open World Corporation (http://www.new7wonders.com) and it is not related to Unesco or Mexican Government. Nevertheless, the initiative has been an effective strategy for tourism.

  9. Considering the official data for Cancun, Riviera Maya (a group of destinations considered so by Sectur), Playa del Carmen and Akumal.

  10. Information provided by Izamal’s Tourism Director on December 14th, 2014.

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Acknowledgments

The author wants to thank Coral Velazquez for collaboration during fieldwork. Also a special acknowledgment to Marco Antonio Barriga for the cartographic work.

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  1. Instituto de Geografia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Circuito Exterior s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, Del. Coyoacan, 04510, Mexico, DF, Mexico

    Ilia Alvarado-Sizzo

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Correspondence to Ilia Alvarado-Sizzo.

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Alvarado-Sizzo, I. Territorial dynamics of cultural tourism in Izamal, Yucatan, Mexico. GeoJournal 81, 751–770 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-015-9663-1

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