The Heritage Business Industry: Mexico’s Opportunity for Economic Growth

Abstract

The following discussion addresses the potential of developing a heritage business industry in Mexico for the purposes of economic growth. The discussion challenges Mexico’s reliance on tourism as a revenue stream in the context of high rates of violence and criminal activity, and examines its failure to promote its rich culture and history. Here, an alternative scenario is offered to create value from Mexico’s rich culture and history by introducing cultural resource management (CRM), an industry developed by private firms around the world, for the protection and management of cultural heritage in compliance with environmental and historical laws. In a context of international initiatives, mainly by the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, this contribution identifies those key factors pressuring the Mexican government to introduce CRM in Mexico as well as alternative routes for financing heritage preservation. Mexico’s dependency on international institutions for economic growth will eventually introduce a definition of heritage beyond notions of old and pretty objects. If Mexico wants to bring significant revenue to its economy, the Mexican government is compelled to embrace a heritage definition involving the significance of place.

Keywords

• cultural ressource management
• CRM
• economic growth
• environmental compliance
• heritage preservation
• tourism