ID: 2157
Presenting Author: A. David Zarazua
Session: 654 - Culture's Role in Impact Assessment
Status: pending
A regional impact analysis to evaluate tourism’s effects on heritage towns in Mexico, identifying uneven development outcomes based on community-based cultural and social impact assessment
The Program “Pueblos Mágicos” in Mexico has positioned heritage as a central driver of tourism-based development in small towns. However, the conversion of heritage into an economic resource has made evident the challenges between cultural identity, territorial preservation, and tourism growth. This study analyzes how tourism expansion produces uneven economic benefits and sociocultural transformations due to town branding that do not necessarily align with the interests or well-being of local communities (Ong, 2011). While tourism can stimulate local employment and investment, it also risks leading to inequality, the loss of cultural authenticity, informal and seasonal labor markets, and the symbolic or material displacement of residents in favor of tourist expectations.
The program outcomes depend on how heritage is governed, valued, and negotiated. When heritage becomes a resource to be consumed, communities risk losing control over the symbols and spaces that constitute their identity (Bayat and Biekart, 2009). Recognizing these challenges in public policy is essential for impact assessments moving beyond promotional narratives, misinformation, and towards tourism models grounded in cultural care, social equity, and long-term sustainability. Heritage must be understood not as an aesthetic attraction nor solely as an economic asset, but as a living system of memory, meaning, and community relations.
PhD Student in Community and Regional Planning, The University of Texas at Austin
Coauthor 1: Robert Paterson