Huatulco, Mexico – Tourism problems on January 21, 2014

The Azamara Quest cruise ship with almost 700 tourists from many countries came to Huatulico, Mexico today. Many of those on-board had tours scheduled to the interior local towns.

BUT..some folks with a grievance (I know not what was the grievance and pass no judgment in that regard) decided to close the road between Huatulco and the airport and towns beyond on the main road. And YES – we (Hey Tourista) were turned back at the road block!!

Also, the regular weekly Canada tourist flight (a plane load in and a plane load out) was disrupted!! Folks leaving were driven to the blockade and then had to walk to the other side of the protesters to get on another bus to get to the airport, while the arrivals had to do the same in reverse to get to their hotels!!

Tours were disrupted, folks that needed to get to the airport were in difficulty and folks arriving were not easily able to get to their hotels!

This is Truly a MAJOR blow to the tourist industry in Huatulco – AND…the Mexican Police did NOTHING to clear the road for traffic or for traffic to move - from at least 8 am until 4 PM!!!!

If you plan to visit this port – check ahead!!

I googled this and discovered that there have been blockades of this road going on from time to time for several years. Try it; it's an interesting story...and country.

The poor working class have very little in the way of redress for anything in their lives. Worker disruption of the tourist transportation system is a way to make ones grievances know and felt in the wallet.

The "protesters" are really a picket line and the bus drivers were honoring that line. This sort of thing happens often throughout the country and it is unfortunately is did disrupt a vacation stop.

As for "checking ahead", I'm not sure how you would do that as these are local labor actions that pop up and end rather quickly. In all likelihood, it started as the ship arrived in the port and ended as the ship left.