from the community towards authority, the environment and tourism in general. In
an attempt to amend this situation, community organisations, associations and
networks need to be established, or reorganised, so that residents are permitted and
encouraged to participate in tourism decision-making, operation and management,
thus facilitating the improvement of social capital (Moscardo 2012). At the same
time, efforts must be made to enforce environmental regulations in a business
environment that is rife with corruption and bribery.
Inadequate waste disposal and poorly maintained buildings are not the only issues
affecting the exploitation of Acapulco’s environmental capital. Additionally, infrastructural weaknesses are abundant throughout the destination, particularly evident
in the congested traffic and crowded walkways when the destination is busy during
holiday periods. Rather than being a direct indication of a dearth in social capital,
this issue is more so a consequence of the chronic failure of Acapulco’s tourism/
urban development plans to resolve the issues that have increasingly served to
depreciate environmental capital leading Speakman and Díaz Garay (2016) to
contend that the plans’ rational philosophical approach is unsuitable for a system
innately complex and unpredictable. Meanwhile, there are complaints that the
destination’s other significant resource, cultural capital, is being overlooked by the
tourism authorities. Municipal decision makers, however, insist that the reason for
this situation is a lack of available finance; that is, they stress that they are aware of
the potential of cultural resources to attract new markets, yet the economic resources
to develop these (and other) capitals are not available. This dilemma reflects the
limitations of financial capital in Acapulco and suggests that any efforts to embark
upon processes designed to enhance the destination’s cultural capital require that the
authorities are adept at exploiting financial capital beforehand; however, to increase
financial capital, it is first necessary to improve social, human and technological
capital so as to attract the attention of investors. In other words, Acapulco must
resolve its chronic, internal social issues before it can hope to raise levels of financial
capital and political capital and eventually exploit the opportunities associated with
cultural capital, a sentiment expressed by an interview participant:
You have to sort out your city, not just be looking for money from the Federation. Do your
bit. If we can become a top-class destination again then our political influence will grow. The
Federal Government and future investors must see that we are worthy of their attention. At
the moment, they just see a mess. We must fix this. (Participant 11, personal communication,
March 16, 2016)
This section established that although particular destination capitals may possess
significantly more scope for development than others, all capitals are interlinked to
various degrees. In the case of Acapulco, environmental and cultural capitals are
recognised as having definite potential, with opportunities for development prevalent throughout the destination. Notwithstanding, in order to exploit these prospects,
the destination must first initiate projects to improve its other capitals, particularly
social capital, which, in a theoretical sense, is the root from which the other capitals
will flourish if attended to correctly. The following section will review several
development opportunities which are appropriate for Acapulco’s destination
capitals.
4 Regenerating the Pearl of the Pacific: A Destination Capitals. . .
55
an attempt to amend this situation, community organisations, associations and
networks need to be established, or reorganised, so that residents are permitted and
encouraged to participate in tourism decision-making, operation and management,
thus facilitating the improvement of social capital (Moscardo 2012). At the same
time, efforts must be made to enforce environmental regulations in a business
environment that is rife with corruption and bribery.
Inadequate waste disposal and poorly maintained buildings are not the only issues
affecting the exploitation of Acapulco’s environmental capital. Additionally, infrastructural weaknesses are abundant throughout the destination, particularly evident
in the congested traffic and crowded walkways when the destination is busy during
holiday periods. Rather than being a direct indication of a dearth in social capital,
this issue is more so a consequence of the chronic failure of Acapulco’s tourism/
urban development plans to resolve the issues that have increasingly served to
depreciate environmental capital leading Speakman and Díaz Garay (2016) to
contend that the plans’ rational philosophical approach is unsuitable for a system
innately complex and unpredictable. Meanwhile, there are complaints that the
destination’s other significant resource, cultural capital, is being overlooked by the
tourism authorities. Municipal decision makers, however, insist that the reason for
this situation is a lack of available finance; that is, they stress that they are aware of
the potential of cultural resources to attract new markets, yet the economic resources
to develop these (and other) capitals are not available. This dilemma reflects the
limitations of financial capital in Acapulco and suggests that any efforts to embark
upon processes designed to enhance the destination’s cultural capital require that the
authorities are adept at exploiting financial capital beforehand; however, to increase
financial capital, it is first necessary to improve social, human and technological
capital so as to attract the attention of investors. In other words, Acapulco must
resolve its chronic, internal social issues before it can hope to raise levels of financial
capital and political capital and eventually exploit the opportunities associated with
cultural capital, a sentiment expressed by an interview participant:
You have to sort out your city, not just be looking for money from the Federation. Do your
bit. If we can become a top-class destination again then our political influence will grow. The
Federal Government and future investors must see that we are worthy of their attention. At
the moment, they just see a mess. We must fix this. (Participant 11, personal communication,
March 16, 2016)
This section established that although particular destination capitals may possess
significantly more scope for development than others, all capitals are interlinked to
various degrees. In the case of Acapulco, environmental and cultural capitals are
recognised as having definite potential, with opportunities for development prevalent throughout the destination. Notwithstanding, in order to exploit these prospects,
the destination must first initiate projects to improve its other capitals, particularly
social capital, which, in a theoretical sense, is the root from which the other capitals
will flourish if attended to correctly. The following section will review several
development opportunities which are appropriate for Acapulco’s destination
capitals.
4 Regenerating the Pearl of the Pacific: A Destination Capitals. . .
55