Author(s)

A. Gámez, A. Ivanova & K. Campiranon

Abstract

The Subprime Crisis in 2008 showed the need to devise mechanisms of economic adaptation and prevention of losses in a context of extreme vulnerability, which defied traditional views of economic and political organization worldwide. For the tourism sector the challenge doubled since it is normally highly vulnerable to external impacts, which in turn tend to compromise the capacity of recovery of tourist destinations. This paper offers a comparison of responses from the lodging sector to the world economic crisis in two APEC tourism destinations: Phuket (Thailand) and Los Cabos (Mexico). Both destinations reflect a dynamic model of foreign investment and demand and are site to processes of economic and demographic growth that foster controversial local and external interactions. An analysis of perceptions and actions taken by the hotel sector to face the still undergoing economic crisis could help strengthen the sector’s capacity of recovery so that lessons can be advanced for the future and other similar destinations. Keywords: international crisis, tourism vulnerability, APEC, Los Cabos, Phuket. 1 Introduction Although the importance of tourism for recovery has been acknowledged both internationally and at the national level in the context of one of the most acute economic crisis of the last century, there is a scarcity of studies which focus on

Keywords

international crisis, tourism vulnerability, APEC, Los Cabos, Phuket.