Cancun in the NYTimes

Cancun in the NYTimes

Can't Post |

http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/travel/21hours.html?ref=travel

Jan 19, 2007, 11:07 AM

Post #2 of 12 (2907 views)

Re: [jennifer rose] Cancun in the NYTimes

Can't Post | Private Reply

That was a good article Jennifer, thanks. I hate the NYT but do sometimes enjoy their articles.

It brings up something that always bugs me, those that say stupid things like "Cancun is not Mexico". Besides the idiocy of saying that about any place in the Republic, there is this ignorance about who lives in Cancun and really, who owns it. In that most of the resorts are owned by the Spanish, it is jokingly called the 2nd Conquest. So the money made from the tourists does not flow back to the US but across the pond to Spain and Italy in some degree. It is Mexican though, not the same as a resort in Spain or Italy and certainly not the same as a resort in the US.

The unique thing about Cancun on the Yucatan peninsula is that it is more Mexican than any other city or town here. There is a much smaller Mayan influence there and due to the influx of workers from all over the Republic, it is more like cities in other parts of Mexico than Merida, Chetumal or Campeche. Thus, the music, the food, the customs are more Mexican than anywhere else here in the land of the Maya. Add the international mix from the US, Spain, Italy, South America and elsewhere and you have a great mix of available cultures and food. Cd. Cancun is underrated as a place to live but it has a lot to offer as long as you are not looking for old stuff, no old buildings or colonial charm but lots of beautiful neighborhoods, good schools, great weather, shopping and eating.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

song_of_joy

Jan 19, 2007, 9:49 PM

Post #3 of 12 (2882 views)

Re: [sfmacaws] Cancun in the NYTimes

Can't Post | Private Reply

Trouble is, when Cancun was developed it was (and often still is) marketed as a Caribbean destination.

: (

Jan 19, 2007, 10:03 PM

Post #4 of 12 (2881 views)

Re: [song_of_joy] Cancun in the NYTimes

Can't Post | Private Reply

and your point is? Cancun IS a Caribbean destination, it is on the Mar Caribe. How is that wrong?

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

Jan 19, 2007, 11:08 PM

Post #5 of 12 (2876 views)

Re: [song_of_joy] Cancun in the NYTimes

Can't Post | Private Reply

Well, Song of Joy, I also would like to know your point. Since Cancun is on the Caribbean Sea, pray tell how this destination should be marketed?

I do not care for the tourist zone of Cancun. It reminds me of the young woman who used to stand near the corner of Haight and Ashbury exposing a breast circa 1967 and offering one dollar squeezes. Nice tits, cheap thrills, emptiness upon awakening .

Jan 19, 2007, 11:36 PM

Post #6 of 12 (2871 views)

Re: [Bubba] Cancun in the NYTimes

Can't Post | Private Reply

Quote

I do not care for the tourist zone of Cancun. It reminds me of the young woman who used to stand near the corner of Haight and Ashbury exposing a breast circa 1967 and offering one dollar squeezes. Nice tits, cheap thrills, emptiness upon awakening .

Ah, but I bet she was a lot more fun back home in her flat. I was speaking about Cd Cancun, which is not the same as the tourist zone, it is home and a real city for many people. There is nothing wrong with the tourist zone for what it is, a place to have a sybaritic vacation. If you've got the dough and you are looking for sun and beach tourism vs cultural tourism, it's the place. The Caribbean beats the heck out of any other ocean and beach in the new world. I say that because I'm sitting right on it right now plus I've spent a lot of time in my life studying beaches, kind of my life's work so to speak.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

Jan 20, 2007, 12:20 AM

Post #7 of 12 (2868 views)

Re: [sfmacaws] Cancun in the NYTimes

Can't Post | Private Reply

Well, Jonna, I specifically mentioned the tourist zone as opposed to Cancun City and am well aware of the difference.

We would disagree about the notion that the Caribbean beats the heck out of any other beach...in the new world. and I say that as one who loves the Caribbean beaches from north of Cancun to Tulum. The most beautiful beaches in the new world are along a stretch from Panama City Beach, Florida to Gulf Shores, Alabama.The single most beautiful beaches have absolutely pure white sand and crystalline emerald waters and are in the the vicinity of Destin, Florida. These marvelous sugar white beaches composed of extremely fine bleached quartz are huge and put the Caribbean beaches to shame. These are not diving waters as you have in Akumal and there is no coral but for swimming in water with utmost clarity, these beaches can´t be beat.

What makes this fascinating is that the Gulf is not normally a place where one would expect beautiful water and pure white beaches. This area extends only about 200 miles from about Panama City to the Eastern shore of Mobile Bay. From the western shore of Mobile Bay to the Gulf beaches in the Yucatan, the water is murky and the beaches are brownish. It´s an interesting paradox.

That having been said, I´ll take the Quintana Roo beaches anyday. I don´t have jerk sisters there.

song_of_joy

Jan 20, 2007, 6:23 AM

Post #8 of 12 (2857 views)

Re: [song_of_joy] Cancun in the NYTimes

Can't Post | Private Reply

No point, really, just a comment.

In the 1980s, the fact that Cancun is in Mexico was played down in official circles. Acapulco, for example, has always been marketed as a Mexican destination.

During a period of hyperinflation, when anything of good quality was advertised as "exportation quality," Cancun was conspicuously (and purposely) presented as Caribbean instead of Mexican Caribbean.

As an anthropologist, I found that interesting but sad, as though Cancun -- being export quality -- was not really for Mexicans. And since the vast investment in developing the resort was made in foreign currency, following the devaluations at the end of José Lopez Portillo's presidency and during Miguel de la Madrid's economically challenging sexenio, Cancun really was priced out of the market for most people earning pesos.

Jan 20, 2007, 7:11 AM

Post #9 of 12 (2850 views)

Re: [song_of_joy] Cancun in the NYTimes

Can't Post | Private Reply

As an anthropologist, I found that interesting but sad, as though Cancun -- being export quality -- was not really for Mexicans

Song of Joy:

I find that an interesting observation. When I have flown from Guadalajara to Cancun on charters the planes have been full of Mexican tourists and the Sunday Guadalajara papers are filled with Cancun deals aimed strictly at the Mexican market.I think the notion that Cancun was aimed at an international market originally is true but I don´t think that is still the case.

When we first visited Cancun in the 80s, you could actually see the beach and the Caribbean. When we briefly passed through there two years ago, we found it depressing with the water totally walled off by monster hotels and condos and couldn´t wait to head south along the Caribbean - or better still, west along the almost deserted Gulf . I sure wish, however, that Cancun had been there when I was in college in the 60s. We had to settle for Panama City Beach upon which to build our beer can pyramids. They´ve now ruined the Redneck Riviera as well.

Somebody once asked Reuben Askew, the then governor of Florida, how he could stand living in a place that had so many hurricanes. He responded, "Yáll don´t understand, down here we call that urban renewal."

song_of_joy

Jan 20, 2007, 7:56 AM

Post #10 of 12 (2847 views)

Re: [Bubba] Cancun in the NYTimes

Can't Post | Private Reply

Ohhhh, that's funny!

(I'm from Florida -- Askew could be on target.)

And you're right, that "malinchista" attitude is no longer the case with Cancun. I live in Guadalajara and see all those newspaper ads you mentioned. Things began to turn around during Carlos Salinas' first year in office. Mexico in general, I think, is much more prosperous today.

Cancun was interesting, as the resort was totally envisioned and planned as such and then carved out of pristine wilderness with a hotel zone, living areas for working people, and urban services factored into the equation. Ixtapa, Huatulco and Los Cabos were subsequent projects by Fonatur, whose people developed Cancun.

Interesting (again), a guide to Cancun I collaborated on last year purposely made no mention of the hurricane. I was forbidden to allude to Wilma in any way. As a writer for hire, I followed intructions but, gosh! Mexconnect Arts columnist Erin Cassin lives there and kept us informed throughout the aftermath of that devastating storm. How could anyone carry on as though it never happened? Unless it was urban renewal... Bubba, you may be on to something.

Jan 20, 2007, 8:24 AM

Post #11 of 12 (2845 views)

Re: [song_of_joy] Cancun in the NYTimes

Can't Post | Private Reply

Song of Joy:

Last April, I posted a story from MURAL that exposed the most polluted beaches in Mexico and, interestingly, the the most polluted body of water in all of coastal Mexico was Chetumal Bay in Quintana Roo. The one place in Quintana Roo where the water was kept quite clean by proper sewage treatment facilities was in the Cancun/Playa del Carmen area. Other beaches on the Caribbean were not listed.

I was pleased to find out that two of my favorite Pacific beaches at Mismaloya Cove and Boca de Tomatlan were found to have really filthy water. I used to swim at Mismaloya but no more.

Further to your point about the aversion to writing about the hurricane, I have never seen any public warnings about polluted waters on any beach I´ve visited in Mexico except one photo I saw published where a huge pipeline was dumping tons of raw sewage into the sea near Acapulco. You are on your own here.

Your post reminds me of another published photo I saw showing two tourists sitting on a rocky shore in front of a luxury hotel that had been a beach at Cancun. The article accompanying that photo was concerned with the damage being done to the local coral by the sand restoration project that was sucking huge amounts of sand from the seabed at the expense of sea creatures. Hey! The hell with sea creaures, they don´t pay the rent.

Jan 20, 2007, 9:48 AM

Post #12 of 12 (2836 views)