Tourism has created real employment in Bahía. A fair number of people now earn at least part of their income from hotels, restaurants and tours. But I am careful not to give tourism credit for every change in the town.
El Niño and the earthquake affected Bahía far more deeply than most visitors did. Even our reputation as Ecuador’s cleanest town came from an initiative led by a former president, not from tourism.
My main concern is how concentrated the tourism sector has become. Four large tour operators and four hotel owners effectively dominate it. My community and I have almost no influence over the way tourism develops.
My school was once asked to give its opinion. On paper, that looked like participation. But our suggestions were not used. The municipality has made other gestures towards involving residents, yet none have produced a meaningful role in decision-making.
Being asked for an opinion is not real participation when nobody intends to use what you say.
I would like more residents to become involved in tourism and in the decisions surrounding it. Both local people and visitors need better information about who controls the sector, where the money goes and what kind of development is planned.
The jobs created by tourism are not especially good, except in the most expensive hotels. Pay is low, organisation is poor and workers receive little proper training.
There is also limited investment in improving those conditions. Most people see tourism earnings as extra income rather than a full livelihood. Because they have another activity to depend on, they do not always organise or demand better working conditions. This makes the workforce more passive than it should be.
I would like the government to tax income from tourism and use part of the money to support the people doing the daily work. At present, too little of the sector’s success returns to the workers and communities beneath it.
Culturally, I do not think tourism has changed Bahía very much. Most visitors are Ecuadorian, so they fit quite easily into social structures that already exist.
International visitors are different economically because they generally spend more. I would welcome more of them, but only if the benefits are distributed beyond the few businesses currently in control.
My criticism is not that tourism exists. It is that four families have had far more say in shaping it than the rest of Bahía.
Tourism can create good opportunities, but concentration limits who can take part and who can imagine starting something of their own.
I want tourism to become more open: better-trained and better-paid workers, informed residents and real participation before decisions are made. Bahía should not merely host tourism; its people should help decide what tourism becomes.