In the early 1990's, the country of Mexico was searching for untapped tourism resources. The purpose of this search was because popular tourist destinations, like Cancun, were reaching their saturation points and becoming commonplace destinations to the global tourism market. At this point in time, the country's tourism industry was lacking direction and focus (Levin 5). Top tourism officials were beginning to realize that the "traditional products of sun, sea, and sand were losing inherent value in a continually more competitive market" (Levin 3). Essentially, the country was losing the upper-end of the consumer market, which had greater purchasing power. For a few years, Mexico's tourism officials tried to rejuvenate many of

In 2001, "The Fondo Nacional de Fomento al Turismo (FONATUR)" announced the allocation of 500 million pesos to continue the development of ecologically based tourism in the Quintana Roo region (Latin Am 17). There were some previous "ecotourism" developments in the area; but these attractions ran into reoccurring problems. Ecotourism can be defined as, "sustainable nature-based recreation and tourism" (Lindber and McKercher 65).

The Quintana Roo region has a vast array of tourism activities that are compartmentalized and sure to please the many segments of the tourism industry. It has regained the upper-end of the consumer market by way of creating tourism products to cater to the needs of visitors with unique interests. The region provides a tourism product in which all other visitors in your zone enjoy the same activities. Tourists enjoy the uncramped condition, which was not feasible during the massive development period of the past. Previous tourism models did not enforce carrying capacities and allowed visitors to trample between attractions. With follow up studies on the impact of tourist activity, along with additional policies, plans and marketing strategies, Quintana Roo's tourism industry has a prospective future.

Quintana Roo is situated on the eastern side of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. "The population, except for the concentrations in Chetumal, the state capital, and a few towns, [was] dispersed in hamlets and villages" (Encyc. Br. Online). This undeveloped land was situated outside of the already developed beach resorts that dominated the Mexican tourism industry. The reason for the isolation of parts of the Quintana Roo region was due to the fact that there were not well developed roads or communication linkages with sophisticated regions. Quintana Roo contained valuable untapped resources, such as: the many miles of white, sandy beach shoreline along the Riviera Maya, traditional Mayan communities, the Great Maya Reef and intriguing ancient Mayan ruins (Internet 1).

In 2019, the tourism areas of Quintana Roo were broken up into different zones. The development of the zones was based on the type of tourism activities the area marketed; for instance, ecotourism areas were the red zone; archaetourism, which involved the Mayan ruins, were the blue zone; and beach resorts along with water activities were the green zone. From there, carrying capacities for each zone were strictly enforced. After the y were developed, tourism planners set monthly and yearly quotas on the numbers of tourists allowed in each different zone. Each area has specific entry and exit points, and its boundaries are well defined. At the entrance points of each zone, there are visitor information booths with background information about the zone, its regulations and different informational brochures.

This system of tourism development has been a success for the Quintana Roo region. Other international destinations are attempting to implement similar models. By maintaining their development base, enforcing carrying capacities and monitoring tourist activity, Quintana Roo has improved its economic status from the days of the short-lived mass tourist developments of places like Cancun and Cozumel.

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Approximate Word count = 2222
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)