Tourism in Quintana Roo generates five million jobs [1], but these economic benefits are not reaching Maya indigenous communities.
This disparity highlights a systemic failure to integrate indigenous populations into the region's primary economic engine. While the state attracts global visitors to its beaches and cenotes, the wealth remains concentrated in specific commercial zones.
Gino Segura, a young Maya leader and candidate for state coordination in Quintana Roo, said the economic gains are concentrated in the hotel zone and related sectors. This concentration leaves Maya communities excluded from the employment and income generated by the industry [1], [2].
The disconnect between the industry's growth and local prosperity persists despite the high volume of tourists visiting the region. The current economic structure prioritizes large-scale developments over community-based integration, a trend that maintains the marginalization of indigenous residents [1], [2].
Efforts to address this gap involve calling for a redistribution of opportunities to ensure that the indigenous people, who are the original stewards of the land, benefit from the activities occurring within their ancestral territories [2].
“Tourism in Quintana Roo generates five million jobs, but these economic benefits are not reaching Maya indigenous communities.”
The gap between the massive scale of tourism employment and the poverty of indigenous communities suggests that the economic model in Quintana Roo is based on enclave tourism. This model creates growth for external investors and urban centers while failing to create a trickle-down effect for the region's original inhabitants, potentially increasing social instability and cultural erosion.
