Monday, April 23, 2012

Cancun Anniversary


It was 42 years ago that the gnomes at the central bank won approval to develop Cancun on a remote sandbar off the Caribbean shore of what was then the remote federal territory of Quintana Roo. The gnomes had noticed all the dollars tourists were bringing into the country and decided that what Mexico needed was more Acapulcos. Cancun grew into the biggest resort destination in the entire Caribbean and inspired half-a-dozen similar projects in Mexico. Quintana Roo became a state as did Baja California Sur, today two of the wealthiest entities in the Republic. Cancun was the first — and most successful — project of what became Fonatur. Others were Los Cabos, Ixtapa, Huatulco and Loreto, of which only Los Cabos has been an outstanding success.

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Jimm Budd
Reporting From Mexico City
Member of the Society of American Travel Writers

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