Close
Film launch: Community led tourism amid Tren Maya project in Mexico
15 November 2024
The collaborative film 'Tren Maya and community-led tourism: is another tourism possible?' is an output of the ongoing research by MSc Urban Economic Development staff and students in the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico.
Since 2021, staff and students from the MSc Urban Economic Development (UED) at The Bartlett Development Planning Unit, UCL have studied the development trajectories and dilemmas in the Yucatán Peninsula, focusing on the Tren Maya project. This ambitious initiative involves a 1,554 km railway spanning five states in Mexico’s south and south east.
In collaboration with academic institutions such as Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán (UADY) and Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR) and local organisations like Co’ox Mayab and the Alianza Peninsular para el Turismo Comunitario (APTC), the UCL team has studied community led tourism among other areas over the last few years. This sustainable and inclusive approach offers an alternative to the mass tourism prevalent in Cancún and the Riviera Maya. For cooperatives engaged in community led tourism, the Tren Maya project presents both opportunities and threats.
Based on interviews carried out in 2024, near the completion of the railway’s construction, this film brings together diverse voices and viewpoints in relation to the dilemmas and opportunities with the Tren Maya. The film calls on project authorities to honour a 2021 agreement to strengthen community led tourism, which has since been left in limbo.
This ongoing research highlights the critical need for sustainable development practices that benefit local communities while balancing the demands of large scale infrastructure projects.