Ethnicity, class, and gender in tourism development: The case of the Bay Islands, Honduras

Abstract

This article examines the social and economic consequences of the expanding tourism industry on ethnicity, class, and gender in the Bay Islands, Honduras. It begins with a discussion of international tourism as a recent strategy for economic development throughout Central America. It goes on to consider international and national incentives to advance tourism, especially cooperative efforts such as El Mundo Maya (The Mayan World). In this broader context, tourism development in the Bay Islands is scrutinised. The primary objective is to demonstrate the relative benefits and risks/costs arising from current patterns of tourism development on Roatan, the largest of the Bay Islands, for various interest groups: by divisions of ethnicity (Islanders and ladinos), class, and gender. Risks/costs and benefits are contrasted in three neighboring communities that differ significantly in the model and degree of tourism development that exist there. The article also points out how deteriorating human and environmental conditions are exacerbating cultural and social conflicts among various Island groups. The paper concludes that, like previous development schemes in Central America, the current pattern of tourism development is exacerbating long‐term struggles, enhancing existing inequalities, and promoting social conflict, thereby threatening the long‐term viability of the tourism industry itself.