Project on Tourism and Youth Homelessness

San Cristóbal de las Casas, Mexico, is a tragic illustration of the impact that tourism can have on poor children. Most of the foreigners that come to the city are young; few are wealthy; many are politically radical, visiting San Cristóbal and Chiapas in order to bathe in the glow of the Zapatista Revolution. These tourists have very little money to spend on arts and crafts, the industry that supports most of the poor Maya refugees in the city.

Maya artisans soon learned that though these radical tourists could say no to adult vendors, they found it much more difficult to reject small children. Inspired by pity and a sincere desire to help poor people in San Cristóbal, the tourists now buy belts, shawls, and other trinkets from children. As a result, thousands of children work on the streets of San Cristóbal. For many, street work is the first step on the road to homelessness or prostitution. In almost every case, children’s earning power undermines family structures, leading to violence and alcoholism.

Roberto Tommasi, a young Italian expert on responsible tourism, is leading the Project on Tourism and Youth Homelessness. He began with in-depth research in San Cristóbal, finding that tourism was one of the major economic causes of youth homelessness in that city. The project will continue by creating a foundation to support the strongest street-child programs in Mexico; with funding from major Italian tour operators, this foundation will fund innovations in services for street and working children.

This project began in March of 2003. We hope for the planned foundation to be active by the middle of 2004.

The Business Plan for the foundation is available (in English, translation by Margret Satterwaite) here.

The research upon which the project is based is available (in Spanish) here.