Evolution of indigenous tourism among the Lacandon of Chiapas: an application of Weaver’s model

ABSTRACT

In this paper, Weaver’s six-stage indigenous tourism model is applied to the Lacandon Maya (Hach Winik) of Chiapas, Mexico. Based on a comprehensive review of the anthropological and historical literature on this indigenous group, combined with longitudinal ethnographic and collaborative research performed with tourism entrepreneurs, the Lacandon tourism experience is assessed from the pre-European period until present. By analysing a case study of indigenous tourism in Mexico, a developing country in another geographical region and with a different colonial past, this work supplements Weavers’ perspective. The results show that the fourth and fifth stages of Weaver’s model coincide in this case study, while the sixth stage is still incomplete. Although the Lacandon case has its peculiarities and bearing in mind that several different factors should be considered in the Latin American context, the model proves to be an interesting tool for indigenous tourism analysis in developing countries.

KEYWORDS:

• Indigenous tourism
• empowerment
• sustainability
• Weaver’s model
• Mexico

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr Pilar Espeso-Molinero is a researcher at the University Institute of Tourism Research and lecturer at the University of Alicante, Spain. Her research concerns the potential of Indigenous tourism operators to design and implement tourism products, capitalising on their own culture and local resources. From a decolonising and critical perspective, she employs action research methods and creativity tools to explore the integration of traditional and scientific knowledge in the tourism arena.

Dr María José Pastor-Alfonso is a researcher at the University Institute of Tourism Research, University of Alicante, Spain. She has conducted extensive field work in Venezuela and Mexico. Her research focuses on the relationship between tourism, culture, heritage, identity and the environment. Her most recent work has focused on the sociocultural impacts of tourism in Indigenous communities from a decolonising perspective.

ORCID

Pilar Espeso-Molinero http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5876-3906

María José Pastor-Alfonso http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8820-8073

Notes

1. Marie-Odile Marion (1999, p. 10) recovers the term ‘usurpers’, used by the Maya in the Chilam Balam books, to designate the Spanish conquerors.

2. Against the wishes of Major Bickford, who intended to establish a permanent exhibition featuring the Lacandon, Mario Monteforte Toledo, leader of the adventurers who had taken them to Guatemala, kept his promise to return them to the jungle after the fair. During their stay in Guatemala, they all suffered from lung problems and gastroenteritis. One of the five never returned.

3. The soil of the Lacandon rainforest is composed of sedimentary rocks from the Cretaceous period, giving rise to relatively impermeable subsoil which favours runoff and soil erosion (Eroza Solana, 2006). In the rainy season, the rainforest’s dirt roads are often blocked by landslides.