The Jagged

Path to
Sustainable
Tourism in a
World
Heritage City

Richard Shieldhouse
Center for World Heritage
Research & Stewardship
University of Florida
Gainesville, Florida, USA
Tourism is not one of the original
goals of UNESCO’s World Heritage
programs.
• UNESCO, however,
recognizes the
impact and
growth of heritage
tourism.
•

• UNESCO
implemented a
Sustainable
Tourism
Programme to
understand and
manage heritage
tourism.
•
The link between World Heritage
inscription and tourism is little
understood.
•T h e re is p le n ty o f
a n e cd o ta l
e vid e n ce .
•S tu d ie s h a ve
exp lo re d th e
lin ka g e w ith m ixe d
o r lim ite d su cce ss.
–D a ta
in su fficie n cie s.
–In a b ility to co n tro l
fo r exte rn a l
in flu e n ce s in
 Mexico provides fertile ground
for understanding the impact
of World Heritage inscription
on communities.
• Mexico’s has 10 World Heritage Cities -- third
after Italy (16) and Spain (13).
• City
Year
Inscribed
Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco 1987

•
Historic Center of Oaxaca and Achaeological Site of Monte Albán 1987
Historic Center of Puebla 1987
Historic Town of Guanajuato and Adjacent Mines 1988
Historic Monuments Zone of Tlacotalpan 1988
Historic Center of Morelia 1991

• Historic Center of Zacatecas

Historic Monuments zone of Querétaro
Historic Fortified Town of Campeche
Protective Town of San Miguel and the Sanctuary of Jesús Nazareno de Atotonilco
1993
1996
1999
2008

•
• Mexico’s ministry of tourism (SECTUR)
collects and reports information on hotel
rooms, occupancy, and visitors.
 Historic Town of Guanajuato
and Adjacent Mines.
• Inscribed in 1988.
•

• 450-year-old city was

by the 18th C the
world’s largest silver
producer.
•

• One of five World

Heritage
communities in
Mexico to merit
three stars (formerly
“worth the trip”) in
Michelin’s Green
 km
(268 mi.) from Mexico City & 868 km
(539 mi.) from the border with the
United States.
Heritage tourism is important to the
Historic Town of Guanajuato and
Adjacent Mines.
• Capital of Guanajuato
state, with a city
population of
141,000.
• Economy today is
driven by three
influences:
– Tourism (28%).
– Government (25%).
– Education,
including.
University of
Guanajuato with
over 20,000
students (18%).
– Mining contributes
 Guanajuato has been largely
successful in preserving its
historic center.
• In 2006, National
Geographic Traveler,
working with George
Washington
University, convened
a panel of 419
experts who ranked
it #4 among all
World Heritage Sites.
• Article cited careful
improvements:
– “Repaving in
traditional style,”
– “Culturally and
The project’s “Stewardship
Index” was based on six
criteria.
• Environmental and
ecological quality.
• Social and cultural
integrity.
• Condition of historic
buildings and
historical sites.
• Aesthetic appeal.
• Quality of tourism
management.
• Overall outlook for the
future.
Source: National Geographic Traveler, November/December, 2006.

•
 Still, the effects of tourism in
Guanajuato are at times
controversial.
• “Improvements” to
accommodate
tourists are of
questionable
authenticity.
– European-style
paving.
– Inappropriate street
lamps.
• Other proposals
include restaurants
more amenable to a
North American
clientele in the
While heritage tourism is not typically
a priority for tourism officials, it has
had a role in their campaigns.
• US market is not
perceived as
particularly
interested in
heritage tourism.
– Hence, the focus is
on sensual
aspects appealing
to a younger
clientele with
more disposable
income.
– Historic structures
become part of
the background.
• Thrust of heritage
With the city’s center largely restored,
focus has shifted to mining villages on
the periphery.
• The principal restoration
organization
(Guanajuato Patrimonio
de la Humanidad) has
begun a program to
restore churches in
these communities.
•

• “A community proud of its

heritage catalogs,
protects, restores and
preserves to contribute
to growth and
development of their
local identity and sense
of belonging.”
The organization focuses on
sustainability.
• “Holistic view” keeps
in mind the way of
life of the
communities.
• Approach strives to
improve living
conditions of
residents as well as
the sustainability of
their cultural
heritage by
promoting them as
tourist destinations.
– Restore churches
 Simultaneously, the private sector
and government have pursued a
different course with mining
communities.
• Club de Golf Mina
Guadalupe plans
include a golf
course, 100-room
hotel, and 21
private houses
amidst the ruins of
an historic mine.
– Reported 30 million
USD investment.
– Offers an innovative
solution to
preserving a
spectacular
historic and
 A new development
promises change to Mineral
de la Luz.
• Private development
converts a historic
hacienda into a
luxury spa.
• Little information
publicly available.
• Government is
implementing road
improvements as
part of a 4.8 million
USD investment in
mining
communities.
 Such repurposing of historic
industrial/mining structures provides
preservation at a cost.
• The heritage of
centuries-old local
mining
communities
becomes
globalized.

– Accessible to
those with
dollars.
– Inaccessible to
locals.
• If these projects
1986-2008 visitor data for Mexican
World Heritage Cities reveal
interesting trends

Source: SECTUR, for dates noted.

 Models were specified with
foreign visitors to each of the
seven cities as a function of
four variables.
1.Pesos Per Special Drawing Right (SDR).
2.Available hotel rooms.
5.Global international tourist arrivals.
6.Dummy variable for World Heritage
inscription.
o Value = 0 prior to inscription date (initially).
o Value = 1 post inscription (initially).
o
• “Exploratory analysis” advanced dummy
variable in one-year increments to
understand probe for significance.
The data demonstrated significant
relationships between inscription
and foreign visitors…
• A statistically significant relationship was
revealed for six of the seven cities.
• Analysis indicated significant increase in visitors
took seven years to materialize in Guanajuato.
• Coefficients
Avg.
Year Year of Inscription Pesos Rooms Global
City Inscribed Significance * Dummy Per SDR Avail. Arrivals
Campeche 1999 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
Guanajuato 1988 1995 21.7 -0.4 -5.8 -0.1
Morelia 1991 1998 7.8 0.4 15 2
Oaxaca 1987 1988 41.2 10.7 3.7 -33.1
Puebla 1987 1996 101.8 -2.5 48.2 16.6
Querétaro 1996 2002 8.8 0.2 30.2 -2.8
Zacatecas 1993 1998 8.9 0.7 3.3 4.6

* First year when the World Heritage dummy coefficient is significant at a

95 percent confidence interval and has a positive sign.
…but recent data reveal divergent
trends among the 7 World
Heritage Cities.

Source: SECTUR, for dates

noted.
 Since 2000, Guanajuato has seen foreign
visitor levels decline more than 50% before
recovering slightly.

Source: SECTUR, for dates

noted.
Interviews with local officials and
observers reveal a basket of
explanations.
• Tourism strategy.
• Branding and slogans.
• Political issues.
• Funding issues.
• Data issues.
• The Cervantino
Festival.
• Low-quality
restaurants, hotels,
shopping.
Tourism strategy has been
inconsistent.
• Strategy tends to
change every three
years with the
change in municipal
administration.
• As we have seen in
the case of the
mining
communities,
different strategies
can be in place
simultaneously.
– Goals of the
strategies can
Inconsistent strategy breeds
inconsistent branding.
• “City of Lights”
• “Cervantino
Capital of
Mexico”
• “City of
Romance.”
• “City of Legends”
• “Your Experience
Becomes
History”
• “Cradle of
Increasing tourism is a popular political
platform, but implementation has been
inconsistent.
• Change in
administrations
every three
years.
– Changing
slogans.
– Changing staffs.
– Programs
frequently not
completed.
• Funding is not
consistently or
 Other issues may be at
play.
• 2% hotel and
restaurant tax
implemented in
2000 may have
led to under-
reporting of
arrivals.
• Cervantino festival
had become a
“cantina” by
2000.
– Drop in foreign
visitors may
be largely
attributable to
 Guanajuato’s failure in retaining
foreign tourist flows may contribute to
its preservation.
• Public and private
investment
have improved
the city’s
appearance.
•

• Decline in visitors
may have
helped to
minimize
changes in the