Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco – In recent years, tour guides and private companies have increasingly monopolized tourism in Puerto Vallarta, significantly impacting local merchants who rely on visitor foot traffic for their livelihoods. A stark example of this issue is evident in the Río Cuale market, where sales have plummeted by up to 500 percent.
Flavio Cuevas, a longtime merchant at the Río Cuale market, expresses his frustration, “The OPCs arrive, the guides arrive and begin to take them away. He begins to go to the market alone. These misfortunes arrive (collapse of the bridge and eruption of the river into the market due to the passage of Hurricane Nora in 2021) and they finish us off. They kicked us out.” Cuevas reflects on the series of challenges faced by the market vendors, which have been exacerbated by the actions of tour guides and private companies who divert tourists to other locations.
Although the bridge was repaired, allowing merchants to regain some business, the inconsistent flow of tourists, especially when cruise ships are not docking, continues to be a significant problem. “They fixed the bridge and we came and it started to go well for us and now with the boats we are doing more or less, but when there are no boats they are left alone, and who is going to bring them to us for tourism?” Cuevas questions. He criticizes the lack of support from tourism promoters who, according to him, ignore the local merchants, monopolizing the visitors and diverting them to other parts of the city.
The plight of the Río Cuale merchants is not new. They have been facing these challenges for years, and despite reaching out to municipal authorities, their pleas have largely fallen on deaf ears. Cuevas describes a system where tour guides prioritize taking tourists to locations where they receive kickbacks, leaving the market vendors struggling. “The more boats there are, the more the guides, they take it around and here they leave us what’s left,” he notes, emphasizing the lack of formal arrangements to ensure tourists are brought to the market.
Merchants have even offered financial incentives to guides, hoping to secure a steady flow of visitors. “They are putting them in contact and telling them that, if they bring us trucks, they bring us Benzes, taxis, they will be given a reward to bring us more, but no, this does not work, they continue to take them around and us They leave us abandoned,” Cuevas laments.
Despite Puerto Vallarta’s booming tourism numbers, with over 5 million visitors arriving in recent years, local merchants like those at the Río Cuale market feel left out of the economic benefits. Most tourists are funneled by private companies and guides to specific locations, bypassing traditional markets and small businesses.
