A Study On The Development Strategy Of The Tourism Industry In Mexico

Mexican tourism is an important industry in Mexico that contributes to as many or more than 1 in 11 jobs. The biodiversity in Mexico is found to be amongst the most highly diverse in the world. While many opportunities exist in Mexico, tourism does not have the same effectiveness in all potential tourist destinations. In addition, some areas of Mexico are seeing declines in tourism that are not improving, even with increased government funding into those areas. Evaluation of the Mexican tourism industry was conducted using such analytical tools as SWOT, PEST, case studies, and primary research, in order to develop recommendations and conclusions regarding the future success of tourism in Mexico.During the SWOT and PEST analysis, it was found that strengths in the Mexican tourism industry can be gained through the use increased diversity in tourism offerings, as well as improved focus on cultural aspects. Mexico is recognized as one of the most highly cultural areas in the world, and creating a focus to embrace this in tourism will improve upon offerings. In addition, the government focus on improving infrastructure and increasing funding to the tourism industry provides a strong foundation for tourist offering improvements. However, many areas in Mexico are still found to suffer from larger than acceptable levels of violence, including in reports discouraging travelers from visiting in those locations. Decreasing levels of violence is necessary for success in the tourism industry. Tourism organizations should embrace diversity, domestic tourism, and technology for growing the industry within Mexico. Finally, threats of substitution and steadily increasing competition for tourist expenditure creates difficult to differentiate and provide strong incentives to the tourists seeking the Mexican experience.The case study evaluated Acapulco and Monterrey, which both share a commonality in the past decade of violence. However, Acapulco suffers from loss of tourism industry while Monterrey remains successful overall. Both cities would benefit from increased diversity in offerings, improved involvement of the community, and increasing safety for tourists. Additionally, as demonstrated in both the literature and in the primary research, the ability to assess the needs of tourists can be done through further research of local residents. Contributions from residents can assist in identifying areas of the city in need of improvement, and while residents and tourists do not always share the same views of the location, the insight provided also can increase domestic tourism and information sharing of the city.Methodology used in this paper included a SWOT, PEST, case studies, and participant surveys. All data was gathered to answer six hypothesis questions, which included relationships between the residents and tourist perceptions of the city, independent and dependent variables, types of tourism offerings, size of the SME versus quality of employees, and types of financing or government subsidiaries and SME success. The significant independent variables found in the research included that respondents from Mexico City used public transportation, reported a lot of traffic, and perceived the city as having lower levels of cleanliness than respondents from other cities, notably that of Monterrey.Additionally, significant relationships were found in ratings of cleanliness overall, where residents were more likely to perceive the city as being less clean than tourists, and tourists had a stronger opinion of the quality of food being good than did local residents. Additionally, respondent ages were found to be significant in method of travel, similarity in tourist opportunities selected, food, traffic, and if the city had friendly people to help tourists. Gender was found to be significant in the area of travel time each day, the selection of ecotourism and cultural tourism opportunities, and a preference for no increase of tourism in their area.Organizations in the study were found to have significant differences based on yearly sales, specifically in that lower sales were associated with greater diversity and increased use of technology. All organizations agreed that the tourism industry was diverse and that tourists to Mexico sought different types of tourism experiences. Additionally, all organizations agreed that the violence associated with an area influenced the success of the tourism industry. Increased government support for the tourism industry was found to be important by both organizations and residents. Finally, organizations responding to this study did not overwhelmingly receive support from the government.The tourist instrument resulted in a number of significant findings, specifically that most of the respondents used information technology for and during their vacation. Additionally, the variables of age and gender were significant in the findings, in that age was related to the reason for travel, rating of cleanliness of the city, and gender in regards to selection of accommodations and the value of the accommodations received. Tourists traveling in larger groups tended to have longer vacations and visit multiple locations. Monterrey tourists were most likely to visit multiple locations while Cancun residents were least likely to be visiting multiple locations. Finally, no respondents visiting Cancun responded that business was their travel reason and all respondents found the residents in the areas they visited to be both friendly and helpful.The results of the research found that a relationship existed between the perceptions of the city by the residents and the success of the tourism industry. Results of the second hypothesis demonstrated that a relationship exists between the perceived values of the tourists and the perceptions of the residents of the city. The third hypothesis was accepted, as there were relationships found between the independent and dependent variables of the primary research and the literature review. Finally, the size of the SME in regards to number and quality of employees, was found to influence the success of the venture based on the results of the literature review; however, quality could not be measured in the primary research.Null hypotheses accepted based on the research included the finding that the type of tourism offered will not have an influence on the success of the SME venture, as no significance was found between offerings and the success; however, it was noted that more diversity existed in smaller SMEs. Finally, the sixth null hypothesis found that the sources of finance sought in establishing the SME did not influence the tourist ventures success.Recommendations made based on the findings of this research included:1. Reduction of crime and violence in potential tourist locations through the use of police models and community action programs.2. Improve social programs and community involvement in tourism, particularly in areas of diversity, tolerance, and education.3. Increase diversity in tourism opportunities through the exploration of new types of tourism based on city attributes or resident offerings. Including an increased focus on niche market, domestic, creative, and medical tourism.4. Focus on areas of tourism that improve communities and cultural aspects of the cities, through the assistance of both historians and local community members. In addition, this area focuses on human resources and sustainability.5. Improved research regarding the effectiveness of government funding on SMEs in the tourism industry, in addition to how SMEs success are related to the government funding and incentives.Continued growth of the tourism industry in Mexico is dependent on the ability of the country to manage violence and reduce risks to tourists. One of the risks involves the ability to travel by road between cities, which reduces some of the types of travel found in the US and other large countries where road trips enhance the ability of the tourist to spend additional time during their vacation exploring. In addition, increased social programs and community involvement can particularly improve the success of the tourism industry by increasing awareness of the diverse backgrounds and improving education in the tourism industry, both in historical value of the communities and in the methods for managing tourism organizations. The ability to increase diversity in tourism in Mexico is nearly limitless, due to the large biodiversity that Mexico has to offer and the unique culture that is singular and strong in Mexico. Additionally, an increase focus on areas of tourism in regards to communities and culture can increase awareness of those areas in regards to historical aspects and create sustainability for the cultures and history. Finally, the recommendations included the need for increased research in the tourism industry in Mexico.Included in the recommendations was an analysis of different types of tourism that should be focused on for continued growth, and these included cultural, medical, slum, adventure, ecotourism, and creative tourism. Cultural tourism has advantages and disadvantages, which include the ability to either hurt or grow a culture based on how tourism is approached. Indigenous populations should not be exploited, but creating sustainable opportunities for these groups can increase awareness and grow the culture in a way that reduces the likelihood that it will be lost to history. Medical tourism increases healthcare to both tourists and to residents, which creates opportunities to bundle packages encouraging family members to travel with patients and enjoy the sites and amenities during their visit. Slum tourism is a negative fonn of tourism that already occurs in Mexico and focuses on the disparities of the country. It is important to share culture, but to avoid purposefully providing opportunities for opportunists to capitalize on the suffering of other humans. Slum tourism should be utilized in a way that it improves strictly on humane efforts.Adventure tourism and ecotourism are closely related and found to be a prosperous opportunity for Mexico, due to the biodiversity of the country. It is suggested that both forms of tourism are opportunities that are easily implemented with other forms of tourism on longer vacations or in vacation packages. These types of vacations utilize the ability of the tourist to explore unique conditions with the amenities of city locations nearby or to create more reclusive options for tourists. In addition, these types of tourism provide opportunities for the next most important type of tourism that should be a focal point of the industry, domestic tourism. Domestic tourism is the movement of local residents between cities for vacations, rather than travelling outside the country. This type of tourism is particularly interesting for Mexico at this time, due to the increased incomes of residents and the perceptions of Mexico residents in regards to violence of their areas. Increased social activities between communities can also increase the safety of the areas by promoting the opportunities for residents to identify different areas of need within the country and to provide feedback for interests they would like to explore if the circumstances of those areas were different. In addition, domestic tourism can provide valuable information regarding authenticity of the location.The research also found that creative tourism is the ability of a unique opportunity to be discovered and utilized by a location to invite tourists, such as capitalizing on the Tequila industry or other similar unique aspects of Mexico. SMEs in Mexico would benefit from seeking out niche market tourist opportunities to differentiate themselves from the larger organizations by providing these unique travel options that embrace the aspects of Mexico that are not widely available or promoted. Conducting additional research in regards to tourism could identify the areas that are not as well-known and could use additional promotion for increasing success in SMEs. In addition, local populations can provide tourism industry SMEs with valuable information in regards to areas that are most likely to provide authentic and cultural experiences that may not yet be available.Finally, the city recommendations overwhelming are in regards to creating safer environments for tourists. While some of the risks of Acapulco have been related to environmental conditions, such as tropical storms, even these risks can be mitigated by emergency planning designed to protect all individuals at times of crisis. Monterrey, while perceived as having less problems in the area of violence, improved social and community programs could provide a huge benefit for the city’s success in reducing levels of crime and increasing tourism generally. Both cities have historical relevance to tourists, which should be capitalized upon in the future as well; however, both cities offer different benefits to tourists. For example, one consideration for Acapulco is the increased access to the local biodiversity by adding adventure and ecotourism to the travel agendas. While many changes are strongly dependent on the reduction of violence, it can be safely said that all of these considerations can work together to create a strong Mexico tourism industry for many years to come.