The Lessons of Cancún, Fifty Years Later

In 1969, Mexico's central bank set out to manufacture a tourism destination from nothing, dispatching a 46-person team of bankers, architects, and economists who spent two years analyzing hundreds of sites before selecting an empty Caribbean sandbar called Cancún. The strategy followed a repeatable five-part template: the state buys the land, builds the infrastructure private capital won't, separates the tourist zone from the workers' city, invites private hotel investment afterward, and targets a nearby wealthy foreign market (Americans) at prices below competitors. Cancún wildly exceeded its targets, growing into Mexico's second-busiest airport and anchoring a state that drew ~20 million…