Chapter 4
Regenerating the Pearl of the Pacific: A
Destination Capitals Approach
to Acapulco’s Tourism Development
Mark Speakman and Alejandro Díaz Garay
Abstract Mexico’s tourism authorities once exploited Acapulco’s resources, or
capitals, to such an extent that it became a tourism phenomenon, often referred to
as the ‘Pearl of the Pacific’; however, ignorance, neglect and competition propelled
the destination into a state of decline, and it appears that the ability to exploit its
capitals has now dwindled considerably. Sharpley (2009) offers the ‘destination
capitals model of tourism development’, which provides a means to assess these
capitals in conjunction with a destination’s community needs, development opportunities and external threats. Utilising the case study research method and the
associated data collection methods of semi-structured interviewing and document
analysis, Sharpley’s model is applied to Acapulco in order to determine the current
state of its tourism industry and to consider the destination’s potential to end the
chronic pattern of decline and instigate a process of regeneration. It was concluded
that while Acapulco’s capitals fail to be exploited for various reasons, it does hold
promise due to its impressive legacy, the underlying quality of its natural environment and the potential associated with several undeveloped cultural resources;
nonetheless, any hope of regeneration requires a consolidated effort on behalf of
all stakeholders to strengthen each capital. The findings offer insight regarding the
viability of the model as a development framework for a destination in decline. In
this sense, its suitability as both an academic and practical method of analysis is
supported.
Keywords Acapulco · Destination capitals · Destination decline · Destination
regeneration · Tourism development
M. Speakman (*) · A. D. Garay
Autonomous University of Guerrero, Acapulco, Mexico
e-mail: mspeakmanuagro@outlook.com
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
A. Omran, O. Schwarz-Herion (eds.), Sustaining our Environment for Better Future,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7158-5_4
43
Regenerating the Pearl of the Pacific: A
Destination Capitals Approach
to Acapulco’s Tourism Development
Mark Speakman and Alejandro Díaz Garay
Abstract Mexico’s tourism authorities once exploited Acapulco’s resources, or
capitals, to such an extent that it became a tourism phenomenon, often referred to
as the ‘Pearl of the Pacific’; however, ignorance, neglect and competition propelled
the destination into a state of decline, and it appears that the ability to exploit its
capitals has now dwindled considerably. Sharpley (2009) offers the ‘destination
capitals model of tourism development’, which provides a means to assess these
capitals in conjunction with a destination’s community needs, development opportunities and external threats. Utilising the case study research method and the
associated data collection methods of semi-structured interviewing and document
analysis, Sharpley’s model is applied to Acapulco in order to determine the current
state of its tourism industry and to consider the destination’s potential to end the
chronic pattern of decline and instigate a process of regeneration. It was concluded
that while Acapulco’s capitals fail to be exploited for various reasons, it does hold
promise due to its impressive legacy, the underlying quality of its natural environment and the potential associated with several undeveloped cultural resources;
nonetheless, any hope of regeneration requires a consolidated effort on behalf of
all stakeholders to strengthen each capital. The findings offer insight regarding the
viability of the model as a development framework for a destination in decline. In
this sense, its suitability as both an academic and practical method of analysis is
supported.
Keywords Acapulco · Destination capitals · Destination decline · Destination
regeneration · Tourism development
M. Speakman (*) · A. D. Garay
Autonomous University of Guerrero, Acapulco, Mexico
e-mail: mspeakmanuagro@outlook.com
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
A. Omran, O. Schwarz-Herion (eds.), Sustaining our Environment for Better Future,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7158-5_4
43