The economic potential and labour conditions of SMEs in the tourism sector in Bahía de Banderas - Mexico (El potencial económico y las condiciones de trabajo de las PYME en la cadena del turismo en Bahía de Banderas – México)

Research project regarding the link between labour conditions and the economic potential of the tourism sector in Puerto Vallarta/Bahía de Banderas in Mexico, with the ultimate purpose of generating knowledge on measures to ensure productivity and competitiveness through decent work promotion.

The International Labour Organization conducted a research project regarding the link between labour conditions and the economic potential of the tourism sector in Puerto Vallarta/Bahía de Banderas in Mexico, with the ultimate purpose of generating knowledge on measures to ensure productivity and competitiveness through decent work promotion. The specific objective of this project consisted primarily in accumulating evidence regarding the causality between productivity, labour conditions and economic development of the tourism sector and, secondly, in conducting a value chain analysis as an instrument to support the formulation of strategies for labour conditions improvement.

The research was conducted by the Small Enterprises Unit of the International Labour Office, in cooperation with the System of Integrated Measurement and Improvement of Productivity team (SIMAPRO) of the ILO Office in Mexico. The results confirm the presence of synergies between productivity and some areas of labour conditions in SMEs of the tourism sector. The conclusions also reinforce the need to use systemic instruments in order to identify labour conditions deficits in the sector, as well as the need to link the tourism economy to local markets in order to enhance the possibilities of employment creation.