It’s easy to be negative about the rapid changes happening in the Tulum area. I recently wrote about the mixed feelings I myself have about so much change in that area.
But even with these mixed feelings, I can’t help but marvel at the progress and potential of the new Tulum airport.
This airport was first conceived more than a decade ago. I remember when the local municipality actually put up official signs with arrows pointing to the yet-to-be constructed airport, only for the project to subsequently be shelved for many years.
This time around, it’s real. The airport has been built at lightning speed, and next month it will be up and running after less than three years of construction.
It will be easy to criticize the start up. Most certainly there will be things that won’t work, and in today’s “everything is recorded on people’s cell phones” world, the initial glitches will be shared quickly. Others, including many people who live in big wealthy cities far away from Tulum, will relentlessly criticize the environmental impact of the airport and lament the changes it will bring. Still others will point to examples of corruption that likely took place during the construction.
I don’t mean to minimize any of these issues, but I do think that it’s important to also focus on the positives that will come from the airport. It’s important to remember that this part of Mexico is extremely poor. Generations of families have lived in poverty or had to move to other parts of Mexico or the United States in search of employment and a better standard of living.
The construction of the airport has resulted in the creation of thousands of jobs. The completed airport will have thousands of direct jobs and create tens of thousands of indirect jobs. These are jobs that allow families to stay in their community, or their state, or their country without having to leave. These are jobs that are consistent and predictable which allow families to plan for their future and invest in themselves and their community. That’s a very, very big deal.
In the past few months, airlines have begun announcing new flights to the airport. First came the domestic airlines, with Viva Aerobus and Volaris announcing flights to Tulum starting in December from several major cities throughout Mexico – including Tijuana, Mexico City, Monterrey, and Guadalajara.
In just the past few weeks, four major airlines from the United States have announced an unprecedented amount of new direct flights to Tulum starting in March.
First came Delta Airlines, announcing daily flights from Atlanta. Then came Spirit Airlines with flights from Orlando and Miami. Then just this week American Airlines announced flights from Dallas, Miami, and Charlotte and United Airlines announced flights from Los Angeles, Newark, Chicago, and Houston. More announcements are certainly on the way soon.
Think about that for a moment. Tulum went from being a two-hour drive from the Cancún airport to having direct flights from more than a dozen major cities in the U.S. and Mexico. Well over 100 million people now have direct flight access to Tulum.
Imagine the economic impact that will have on tens if not hundreds of thousands of families. Of course, with this growth will come other problems, but as the saying goes, “first or second world problems are much preferred over third world problems.”
I am more bullish than ever on Mexico’s future. The country has a historic opportunity to raise its standard of living through projects like the Tulum airport, the Maya Train, the Isthmus de Tehuantepec trade corridor, and other infrastructure and nearshoring projects throughout the country.
We cannot forget that nearly 40% of Mexicans still live in poverty, and that there is a long way to go to improve the health care, education, and housing of millions of its citizens. Projects like the Tulum airport are exactly those that can help improve these problems and should be celebrated.
Travis Bembenek is the CEO of Mexico News Daily and has been living, working or playing in Mexico for over 27 years.
Tulum is becoming more than a vacation everyone that visits either comes back again or ends up living here. It’s magical and that happened to me. Love TULUM and especially the people and this is a n point the above story. It creates jobs and lets people live in their country.
Let me say a couple of things, as a 21 year resident and business owner in Mexico, an international economist and political scientist that specialized – and spent a lot of time working – in Latin America and especially Mexico before moving here permanently in 2002:
1. I am really appreciating the changes, the fresh perspectives (which I mostly agree with but not 100% and that’s fine) and the new willingness to take thoughtful positions on many issues, unapologetically publishing these positions with cogent defense of said decisions! Bravo! I applaud the addition of columnists such as Ambassador Arturo Sarukhán to the roster of contributors. MND is becoming – will become, I believe – a much more important and larger voice in the journalistic ecosystem about Mexico, its politics, culture and news. CNN en Español and CNN international… will be calling for the perspective of MND journalists!
2. I agree that the benefits of the Tulum Felipe Carillo Internatinal Airport will bring many economic benefits to the region and will be an important factor in raising the standard of living in a region that desperately needs development projects such as this.
3. It is just incredibly impressive to see how quickly this and other major infrastructure projects have progressed under the current administration. Airports, rail projects, an airline resurrected… The “superpower” United States seems to have lost the ability to do big infrastructure projects quickly, and it’s not for lack of money. The US is still far richer than Mexico. We’ve lost our way because we came to believe that the government is the problem (thanks Reagan). we’ve defunded and kneecapped our own government through tax cuts (overwhelmingly for the rich), making it a truism that “government can’t do it.” Step 1: Cut taxes with the argument that “government is the problem”, thus; Step 2: Defund government institutions, leaving them toothless through austerity and deregulation; Step 3: go on mass media to claim that “government is the problem and must be cut further.” Rinse and repeat. In the face of the climate emergency, collapsing infrastructure, income and wealth inequality that is at least partially causal for our political and social instability… one wonders if the US is up to the multiple challenges it faces. And you can see why a government that can make decisions and quickly achieve goals, as has been the case with the López Obrador administration, is extremely attractive to voters who are beginning to see real benefits in their lives, and are beginning to have hope for themselves, their families and their children. Mexico is poised for great things in the coming years! But process also matters. And this, to me is concerning.
4. The Tulum airport, like multiple other projects, has been handed to the Mexican military establishment to build, own, operate. As a student of political science and political history, this is deeply concerning for those of us who value democracy. Giving an independent source of funding to the military arm of the government, rather than funding appropriated by democratically elected representatives of the people, is a basic building block in the authoritarian playbook. So is interference in the justice system by the executive branch. So is vilification of the media by the executive branch. And the current administration, and by extension the party, seems fully behind these strategies. It’s dangerous for Mexico’s fledgling democracy. There certainly must be a better way for the Mexican government to complete these important projects as quickly and efficiently as they are doing through the military, but through civilian government institutions. Is MORENA the new PRI soft dictatorship that held an iron grip on government for 70 years? Is the new boss the same as the old boss?
Appreciate this balanced critique of the Tulum Airport as a metaphor for broader issues affecting Mexico’s future. I too had reservations that AMLO would take pages from the tinpot dictator playbook and find a way to stay in power. Yes, his party Morena is a shoe-in to lead Mexico for a generation — if not longer. But he’s clearly stepping aside and I have to see the pending #EsClaudia wave in a positive light. Is Mexico “ready” for a western liberal democracy? Should Mexico be critiqued via this lens? I don’t think this works.
All change in Mexico is “local” and dependent on how politics and change play out across over 2,400 municipalities. While there are some positive steps helping to reform municipal governance, the system I’m part of (Chapala, Jalisco) is woefully shackled by cronyism, opacity, “shoot, aim, ready” solutions to local challenges, and rule enforcement that is patchwork at best. AMLO had to start somewhere, and the military (one of Mexico’s most respected institutions, especially the Navy) was a logical partner — given what he inherited. His top-down, take no criticism, attack dog style against Mexican media and civil society is often ugly and bewildering. But expecting Mexico to naturally fall toward the ideals of liberal democracy is too distant a goal for one man in a six-year political mandate.
No, it’s not ideal to have the Guardia Nacional in military hands. No, meddling in election administration in a partisan way is not furthering “true” democracy. Attacking environmental protection, women’s rights, and shunning nearly every forum for Mexico on the global stage is not helping move Mexico toward an open society. But can we really lay Mexico’s dysfunction at AMLO’s door when there is so much change needed from the ground up (municipal) level? He had to start somewhere. It may take another generation for Mexicans to demand local improvement, using their right to protest and demand transparency before there’s real change. Let’s hope this is a Morena spill-over. There’s no turning back.
Paul, Thank You for your comments as a resident of Mexico. I too have been a resident of Mexico (Permanent)
for 22 years. Mexico has the opportunity to become the Power house in North America with Near shoring and all of the infrastructure activity with in the country. THE THREE PROBLEMS I see as a roadblock for Mexico are.
1) The lack of a Rule of Law. The Cartel’s have gotten more powerful and control more of the country.
2) The corruption in the private sector, part of the reason to use the military. When many in Political positions, like mayors and Governors, leave office…they steal everything while in office and Leave Mexico .There are warrants for some and a couple have actually been arrested during this administration.
3) The inequity in the country. PAY THE WORKERS A DECENT WAGE….This drives people to go north for work,
and the growth of the Cartels . The wealthy are part of the problem…they want it ALL. NOT GOOD, NOT FAIR.
Gracias,
Robert Peltier
MORENA and AMLO is the new “soft” dictatorship. After the obvious lies in the aftermath of Otis, how can he save face? He can’t. He is either stupid or an outright liar. We see the reality in Acapulco .
Yes they can get things done but at what collateral damage. The military is building these projects because the courts balked at the environment damages that are resulting from (especially) the Tren Maya. Mexico also doesn’t address the “whole picture”. Have you been to Tulum recently? Absolutely no place to park during the high season, environmental degradation, huge crowds of tourists wandering the streets, too many crappy “Mexican” restaurants and Chinese sourced souvenir shops. Sure, many of these tourists would have come down from Cancún anyway but obviously many thousands more per week will be attracted to Tulum by easier access. The main economic beneficiaries will be, as usual, investors and a workforce from outside Q. Roo with very little benefit to the Mayan communities.
Yes it’s true I’m of “advanced age” and reminiscent of the Tulum of even 20 or 30 years ago. Regardless, little has been done to anticipate the impact of the new airport on the quality of life in the region most affected.
I do want to point out that Aeromexico also announced 2 daily flights from Mexico City around the same announcement date as the other domestic carriers.
Having lived in BCS for over 36 years now, a Mexican citizen , I am very impressed with AMLO. I , and most Mexicans, agree that things have progressed well since he has taken office . As in the case of Los Cabos, Tulum will indeed go from a smaller town to a larger , more touristic place because of the airport. All of us want to keep beautiuul natural environments free of destruction and change, but in a place where modern people live in conditions of poverty it is a positive change for economic development of a tourist nature. People who remember Los Cabos as a small fishing village bemoan the massive growth here, but there are plenty of jobs and upward mobility of the population. If a president is elected to improve the lives of the citizens, then AMLO is very successful. Please also note that the U.S. treasury secretary, Jaime Dimon, recommends investing in Mexico. Obviously, something is going right in this administration.
Sharley,
Thanks for your comments. I drove the Highway from Ensenada to Cabo a year after they paved it, the mid 70’s.
I LOVE BAJA and thankfully much of it has not been ruined by development.
Personally, I Liked Cabo much better, when it was just a fishing village and we would fish the East Cape up to San Jose Del Cabo with Victor’s Panga Fleet.
A LOT less crime and safer….