History of Cancun

Cancun was developed for the sole purpose of tourism.  Therefore the city has a limited history. Before it became a tourist resort, Cancun was a fairly non-descript island, housing mainly coconut plantations and a few pre-Columbian ruins. It remained this way until the 1950s, when the true possibility of the island was realised and rapid development began.

Tourist developments

In the 1950s, the Mexican government came up with the idea of turning Cancun into a brand new and expensive tourist resort. They borrowed US$27 million from the Inter-American Development Bank in order to turn their ideas into a reality and began work straight away.

Work began with the construction of a walkway linking the island of Cancun to the mainland as well as a brand new international airport. Work slowed after the construction of these two amenities and things didn’t really start up again until the 1970s.

Hotel boom

After further developments throughout the 1970s, Cancun began to develop at an alarming rate. The first few hotel developments built on the island were financed by the Mexican government, but soon after they were constructed, major developers moved in and the island was soon crawling with international investors.  Despite international chains staking their claim on the island, the large majority of hotels found here are still locally and nationally-owned.

Present day

Today the island of Cancun is thought of as a city and is home to over 750,000 residents. The new-found city spreads right across the island and onto the mainland. Unfortunately, in 2005, the city was devastated by Hurricane Wilma, with repairs taking up to a year to complete. By the peak summer season of 2006, virtually every hotel was back up and running along with many other businesses.