The Development of Mexico's Tourism Industry: Pyramids by Day, Martinis by Night (New Directions in Latino American Cultures) [Hardcover]

Dina Berger (Author)

Book Description

Series: New Directions in Latino American Cultures | Publication Date: February 16, 2006

Today, tourism is one of Mexico's most successful revolutionary projects that played a decisive role in the making of that modern nation. From the industry's birth in 1928 to its boom in 1946, government officials and private entrepreneurs coalesced around tourism to study, develop, and promote it as a development strategy that fulfilled revolutionary goals. Through savvy promotional campaigns that professed goodwill and showcased the modern (martinis) and the traditional (pyramids), tourist boosters refashioned their nation's image from an unruly to a good neighbor successfully attracting U.S. tourists. This pioneering study demystifies the emergence of modern tourism and demonstrates how tourist boosters capitalized on broader shifts in U.S.-Mexican relations.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A well-researched, thoughtful and pioneering study of the Mexican Tourism Industry."--Andrew Wood, University of Tulsa

"It is refreshing to see a study of "bilateral relations" between the U.S. and Mexico, focused on the decades between 1920 and 1940, that focuses as much on people -- in this case, the producers and consumers of the tourist lifeworld -- as diplomats. Of special interest is the attention paid to the dilemmas faced by a highly nationalist government that, for economic advantage, seeks to "sell" its culture to foreigners without watering down its sense of national pride.....Highly recommended for its appreciation of Mexican popular culture and how it was continually "reinvented" to appeal to eager travelers from the north."--Diane E. Davis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, author of Urban Leviathan: Mexico City in the Twentieth Century (English 1994, Spanish 1998)

"This meticulously researched and wide-ranging study is the first of its kind to document the origins of Mexico's tourism industry as it took root during the 1930s. The Development of Mexico's Tourism Industry is an original and welcome contribution that should receive a wide audience across disciplines."--Eric Zolov, Franklin & Marshall College, author of Refried Elvis: The Rise of the Mexican Counterculture (1999)

"Berger's detailed research into the private and public institutions charged with transforming Mexico into a tourist destination after the Revolution not only complicates our understanding of US-Mexican relations in the 1920s and 1930s, but reveals the foundations of the resort industry that today reaches from Baja to the Maya Riviera.--James Oles, Wellesley College

"In an engaging and insightful example of cultural and political history, Dina Berger demonstrates how the Mexican leadership connected tourism with the construction of a new economy and broader polity because tourists demand creature comforts and their example would increase the material expectations of the general public. Under President Lazaro Cardenas the focus was widened to include the promotion of prehistoric sites and museums that not only promoted tourism but also created an increased sense of national cultural unity."--John Mason Hart, Author of Empire and Revolution: The Americans in Mexico Since the Civil War

"How Mexico became one of the world's top tourist destinations is a fascinating and hitherto largely untold story. Thanks to Dina Berger's path breaking, deftly researched study, we can now trace the origins of Mexican tourism back to the dark days of the Mexican Revolution, when against all odds a dynamic group of revolutionaries, boosters, bankers, and entrepreneurs reinvented Mexico's tattered image, seduced the gringo tourist, and laid the foundations for a world-class industry. Berger's engaging account demonstrates that tourism was more than business: it was Mexico's ticket to modernity."--Adrian A. Bantjes, University of Wyoming

"This smartly conceived, admirably concise volume raises the bar for historical studies of Mexican tourism. Without marginalizing the collaboration of U.S. actors or the lure of the Yankee tourist dollar, Berger deftly portrays the origins of the Mexican industry as an expression of the consolidation of the nation's increasingly powerful postrevolutionary state and of the economic and cultural projects that underwrote it. Drawing effectively on under-utilized Mexican sources (like the records of private travel clubs), Berger's study contributes importantly to our knowledge of both twentieth-century Mexico and transnational tourist promotion. The contrasts drawn with the development of Cuban and Caribbean tourism enhance the book's value."--Gilbert M. Joseph, Yale University

"Dina Berger's book is an important new study that explains how U.S. and Mexican elites transformed and marketed the image of revolutionary Mexico."--Tom O'Brien, University of Houston

About the Author

Dina Berger is Assistant Professor of Modern Latin American History,
Loyola University Chicago.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; First Edition edition (February 16, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1403966354
• ISBN-13: 978-1403966353
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,570,086 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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