Waubonsee Community College

Sun and shadows, the downside of tourism in Central America, by Joaquín Zúniga

eng

videorecording

For College; Adult audiences

Sun and shadows

electronic resource

747797663

by Joaquín Zúniga

34

Global business and economics in video

the downside of tourism in Central America

Tourism has traditionally been presented as a factor of modernization and economic growth for poor nations. But tourism is often developed at the expense of indigenous populations and this is a growing problem all over the world. This film looks at this issue in five countries: Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Honduras. In Nicaragua several developers of luxurious hotels on beachfront property purchased four kilometers of land but are actually using over sixty kilometers. The local community is protesting but the national government is actively encouraging developers from abroad to build on the unpurchased land. Small farmers in Costa Rica complain that new resorts being built are environmentally unsound and using up the scarce water supply. The Dominican Republic has beachfront property that is being developed to resemble Cancun, Mexico. Many of the workers hired are Haitian immigrants who will work for lower wages than the Dominicans. People from this area sold their land cheaply and have now been forced into poverty. In Cancun, hotel workers are given 28-day contracts and no benefits; income from these lucrative resorts has not trickled down to the workers. Prof. Celina Izquierdo, Universidad del Caribe, Mexico, says that two distinct styles of life have developed there, that of the tourists and that of the locals. The local people have no economic opportunity and are losing their cultural identity to the encroachment of large international hotels

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