Tourism accounts for 60 percent of Baja California Sur’s Gross Domestic Product, far above the sector’s 8.5 percent contribution to Mexico’s national GDP, according to Agustín Olachea, president of EMPRHOTUR, the La Paz Hotel and Tourism Business Association.
Olachea said the figures underscore the state’s heavy economic reliance on tourism while highlighting the need to integrate local communities into a sustainable growth model.
The numbers place Baja California Sur among the country’s most tourism-dependent states, giving the industry both economic importance and a responsibility to guide development responsibly.
Olachea shared the data during the “La Paz Resident for a Few Days” awards ceremony, part of the “I Love La Paz” campaign, held at the Autonomous University of Baja California Sur. He spoke about tourism’s role in creating jobs and opportunities for young people entering the workforce.
“Tourism contributes 8.5 percent to the national GDP. Its contribution to the country is enormous, but in Baja California Sur, tourism alone accounts for 60 percent of our GDP, between Los Cabos and La Paz,” he said. “Therefore, we must remain highly competitive in tourism so that, as you enter the workforce, you have places where you can work and build your careers.”
Olachea said the tourism development model that dominated Mexico for decades, centered on large-scale hotel construction, has been overtaken by modern industry standards. He noted that the United Nations World Tourism Organization now promotes a model focused on integrating local communities into destination development.
“The UN World Tourism Organization has shifted its paradigm. That model is no longer the way forward,” he said. “The model is to integrate the community, and then you will create a successful tourist destination. We must design for the future, and we have to agree and work collectively.”
He added that La Paz is in a different position than destinations such as Cancún, Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos, which he described as the country’s three leading tourism centers. In his view, La Paz does not need to replicate a mass-tourism model and instead has an opportunity to pursue orderly growth through collaboration among institutions, academia and younger generations. He also proposed visiting schools and universities to encourage broader discussion about the future of tourism in the municipality.
The “I Love La Paz” campaign is coordinated by the La Paz Tourism Trust, the organization responsible for promoting the destination outside the state.
