Title: State tourism, labour mobilities, and remittance potentials within Huatulco, Oaxaca

Authors: Gregory S. Gullette

Addresses: Department of Anthropology, Santa Clara University, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA 95053, USA

Abstract: This paper examines how state tourism agencies may adjust to and capitalise on changing socio-economic conditions within tourism host communities. Ethnographic data from Huatulco, Oaxaca frame the discussion as they illustrate how state tourism development engendered complex international labour mobilities. Emigration from Huatulco centred on finding economic stability, whereby remittances sent from the USA enabled Huatulco families to purchase land, build homes, increase savings, or start businesses. It is suggested that state development agencies work to evaluate and respond to nested and coupled forms of change within tourism initiatives. In Huatulco's case state tourism development affected the formation of labour mobilities and remittance sending strategies, yet these changing socio-economic and labour arrangements simultaneously offer potential monetary flows that could strengthen regional development if supported through appropriate state policies.

Keywords: planned development; tourism development; community development; development statism; Mexico-US migration; international migration; labour mobility; migration livelihood strategies; remittances; functionalist tradition; adaptive management; Oaxaca; state tourism; United States; USA; Mexico; ethnography; monetary flows; regional development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTA.2012.052538

International Journal of Tourism Anthropology, 2012 Vol.2 No.4, pp.299 - 317

Received: 31 May 2012
Accepted: 15 Nov 2012
Published online: 16 Aug 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article