Your experience with Cancun, Mexico, what places in the world are similar to Cancun in this way, and what places are not (hotel)

[MichaelOrear]

Hello,


When I went to Cancun several years ago, I noticed that compared to saw some parts of Brazil and the Carribean, Hawaii and other tourist mecca's;


1. The Hotel Zone looked and felt so different from Mexico.
2. For miles, besides some workers, a few locals on the beach (there is a legally guaranteed access path for locals) and signs in Spanish, the hotel zone did not look at all Mexican whatsoever.


There was virtually no integration at all between the tourist resort world and the "everyday local world.'


My questions are:


1. What cities in the world would you say the tourist areas are culturally and physically separated from the everyday local world?


2. What cities in the world would you say that the tourist world is culturally and physically mixed in with the everyday local world?


Thanks

[Pueblofuerte]

Most resort places in Dominican Republic and Spain fit that profile. Other places too but those two nations stand out where there is almost a complete disconnect.

[AntonioR]

Hopefully the OP is aware that most tourists to Cancun are Mexicans.

In total, the vacation hotspot [Cancun] registered 12.4 million tourists for the year. The remarkable fact is that over half of the visitors came during the worldwide pandemic.

During the pandemic Cancun saw over 2.9 million international tourist arrivals. The vast majority came from the United States.

https://www.traveloffpath.com/cancun...-the-pandemic/

Due to the pandemic, overall tourists arrivals may had been down, especially in 2020, but it has always been the case that Mexican tourists outnumber international ones.

[AntonioR]

Originally Posted by Pueblofuerte

Most resort places in Dominican Republic and Spain fit that profile. Other places too but those two nations stand out where there is almost a complete disconnect.

That's only true in Punta Cana / Bayahibe areas which tourist areas tend to be in the middle of nowhere (this has been changing in Punta Cana though.) Elsewhere tourist areas tend to be right in the towns or, as is the case with Playa Dorada in Puerto Plata, on the outskirts of town. Las Terrenas is now the main tourist spot on the Samana Peninsula and there it's more like in the north coast than in the east (Punta Cana, etc).

Punta Cana, particularly Bávaro, does recieve most of the tourists in the DR (something like 70% to 75%.) Macao is the next area to be developed for tourism there and it will have more density since a change in building codes was approved a few months ago (maybe it was a year ago.) High-rises are now allowed in that area and in the Cap Cana area. I think that goes agaibst the traditional height limit in the area and will turn them into "another Cancun," but whatever.

The people that live in tourist areas, particularly in the east, are different from Dominicans in general. There is a different feeling in the overall attitudes. The people there have a more business attitude. It's all about money. Very different from typical Dominican areas. There are also much more foreigners living in those areas, both American/Canadians/Europeans "expats" (especially in the Puerto Plata province and in Punta Cana) and Haitian "immigrants" (major difference is that expats are looking for a lower cost high living standards while immigrants are looking for jobs), more so than in typical Dominican areas.