Acapulco Bay. Acapulco is a tourist site beloved by Mexicans of all social classes. But international visitors are scarce, representing less than 10% of the total.
By Andrea Sosa Cabrios
In the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, Acapulco was a glamorous vacation site adored by the international jet set.
Things deteriorated and the Mexican beach resort went from being a spot Hollywood stars loved to a violent setting where narco-trafficking took hold.
Now, Acapulco is seeking to renew its glory with the help of Mexican multibillionaire Carlos Slim, the world’s richest man.
With a fortune estimated at $72bn and No.1 on Forbes magazine’s list of wealthy men and women, Carlos Slim is currently heading a major project to salvage the oldest section of Acapulco, a port and beach resort on the Pacific.
The project is a joint private-sector-cum-government endeavour.
The plan already being implemented includes a 4.5km boardwalk next to the ocean, to contrast with the hotel strip, a long line of hotels built side-by-side that blocks the view along most of the coastline, a bike path, restaurants and shops made of stone and palm, an “Acabus” or line of special public transportation buses that run on their own individual lanes to improve transit, as well as, in the future, a “Maribus” for maritime transportation.
In Acapulco’s golden age in the fifties and sixties, major film and entertainment stars strolled through its beaches.
Brigitte Bardot, Frank Sinatra and Mexican diva Maria Felix were among those who enjoyed the bay. John Wayne and Johnny Weismuller, the famous movie Tarzan, acquired the Los Flamingos hotel, along with its “Hollywood pack” of regular guests.
Weismuller spent his final years in Acapulco and is buried nearby. Elizabeth Taylor chose Acapulco to wed Mike Todd, the third of her eight husbands, and John and Jacqueline Kennedy went there for part of their honeymoon as did Bill and Hillary Clinton.
But then the competition entered. More exotic and modern beach destinations emerged and planes began to be able to take tourists to more remote sites. The modern ills also struck: pollution, urban chaos, traffic jams, violence and the illegal drug trade.
Over the last decade, the international airlines have practically abandoned Acapulco.
The old Acapulco — the traditional Acapulco that appeared in so many movies and where so many celebrities cavorted in the golden years — virtually disappeared from public sight.
Instead, to the south of the city, the so-called Acapulco Diamante area began to emerge, with its upper notch tourism hotels, luxury buildings and residences for tourists from Mexico.
“You can’t say ‘No’ in Acapulco. With every beat your heart will answer ‘yes,’” Elvis Presley sang in his 1963 movie Fun in Acapulco.
Acapulco was also featured in books like Carlos Fuentes’ Where The Air is Clear and songs of all kinds including romantic ballads such as by the Mexican composer Agustin Lara, Mexican and Spanish pop stars Luis Miguel and Raphael, and international musicians Phil Collins and Ringo Starr.
Recently, in an effort to promote Acapulco, its beaches have appeared in several music videos: Whistle by singer Flo Rida and Follow The Leader with Jennifer Lopez and Wisin & Yandel.
Less than 400km by car from Mexico City, Acapulco is the tourist destination most loved by Mexicans of all social classes.
Local authorities say that thanks to publicity campaigns and a police-military operation to control crime called “Safe Guerrero”, tourism is recovering.
The end of 2012 yielded the best results for December in a decade, with a 60.4% monthly occupancy rate at accommodation and 98% rate during the end-of-year holidays. But international visitors are scarce, representing less than 10% of the total.
The government and private entrepreneurs in February 2012 established the Advisory Council for the Rescue of Traditional Acapulco. Slim was named president.
The agency is composed of the Guerrero state government, city hall, businessmen and civil groups who hope for major changes in some three years.
The Guerrero State Tourist Promotion Secretary Javier Aluni Montes, said that Acapulco’s boom in the fifties and sixties had a great deal to do with Cuba becoming out of bounds to tourists in the wake of the socialist revolution led by Fidel Castro.
“When Fidel Castro closed Havana to North Americans they were left without a resort, without a place to go to. That is when Acapulco took off as a beach destination and Las Vegas got in the game for betting, because it wasn’t allowed in Mexico,” he told DPA.
“Acapulco thought it had it made. And that people, because of the weather, would always come to visit. What happened? There began to be a lack of care and also delays in remodelling ... Now what we’re doing is renovating the entire house.”
But it is not just a matter of infrastructure.
“What we’re trying to do here is restore social fabric, recover public spaces, restore community life,” Adrian Pandal Gonzalez, who was appointed by Slim to do the job, explained to DPA.
Pandal Gonzalez also heads the Mexico City Historic Centre Foundation.
“We did this 10 years ago in the capital historic centre and it has worked very well. The work is kind of similar although in Acapulco it is about restoring an area that also has social issues.”
Pandal Gonzalez says the intention is to improve the urban and social situation with planning and attack problems with substantive measures. He will not reveal numbers for the investment that Slim intends to make in the project and did not have global figures for the entire venture although he said that at least 200mn pesos (about $16mn) was earmarked to remodel the boardwalk area.
“We are also trying to do many sports activities. For example, so that children have activities during the week as it is in Rio de Janeiro,” he said.
“When there is a good atmosphere and the place is nice and neat, tourists arrive. We are certain that this is going to have implications for all of Acapulco.” — DPA
