Resumo As relações e os vínculos territoriais são fundamentais para os estudos em Geografia. Nos últimos anos, eles têm passado por uma evolução significativa e não são alheios às investigações sobre a atividade turística, uma vez que os fluxos gerados são responsáveis pela dinâmica territorial. O objetivo principal deste trabalho é revelar as interações espaciais que surgem a partir de uma rota turística internacional, onde seus recursos valorizam o patrimônio das missões jesuítico-guaranis localizadas em três países: Paraguai, Argentina e Brasil. A metodologia empregada combina técnicas qualitativas e quantitativas, utilizando o software de análise de redes Gephi e dos Sistemas de Informação Geográfica (SIG). Por meio da cartografia, destacam-se as características e propriedades dos nós e dos vínculos estabelecidos entre os povos missionários nos quais se registra uma atividade turística preponderante. Além disso, é integrado o conceito de fricção do espaço, o qual funciona para explicar, com mais detalhes, cada uma das relações e vínculos estabelecidos.

Abstract Relationships and territorial links are fundamental to Geography studies. In recent years, these aspects have undergone significant evolution. Besides, the study of tourism activity is not indifferent since the flows generated in places of tourism interests are those that give rise to territorial dynamics. The main objective of this study is to reveal the spatial interactions stemming from an internationally renowned tourist route, with a very particular niche of its resources, which focus on the heritage of the Jesuit-Guarani missions located in three countries: Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil. The methodology used integrates the use of qualitative and quantitative techniques. These techniques are combined with “Gephi,” a network analysis software, and “Geographic Information Systems” (GIS). With the aid of cartography, the characteristics and properties of the nodes and links established among the “pueblos misionales” in which the primary tourist activities take place are displayed. Additionally, the concept of “friction of space” is incorporated to explain, in more detail, each of the relationships and links established.

Resumen Las relaciones y los vínculos territoriales son fundamentales para los estudios en Geografía. En los últimos años, estos han tenido una evolución significativa y para el estudio de la actividad turística no resultan ajenos, pues los flujos que se generan son los que dan origen a una dinámica territorial. El objetivo central de este trabajo es revelar las interacciones espaciales que se originan a partir de una ruta turística internacional, donde sus recursos ponen en valor el patrimonio de las misiones jesuítico-guaraníes localizadas en tres países: Paraguay, Argentina y Brasil. La metodología utilizada se asocia con el uso de técnicas cualitativas y cuantitativas que se conjuntan con el uso del software de análisis de redes Gephi y de los Sistemas de Información Geográfica (SIG) en el que, a través de la cartografía, se muestran las características y propiedades de los nodos y los vínculos que se establecen entre los pueblos misionales en los que se registra una actividad turística preponderante. Asimismo, se integra el concepto de fricción del espacio que funciona para explicar, con más detalle, cada una de las relaciones y vínculos establecidos.

Abstract: This paper proposes a regionalisation of tourism in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. This is done by weighing up the functional ranking of the main state tourist hubs, the geographical distribution of natural and cultural resources for tourism in this part of Mexico and the regional accessibility of these places assessed by the analysis of the state road network. This procedure led us to establish two major research findings: first, a hierarchical set of tourist regions within the state and, second, a cognitive platform on to which support a proposal for planning and rationalizing the tourism space in Oaxaca.

Resumen: Esta investigación tiene como objetivo principal desarrollar una propuesta de regionalización turística en el estado de Oaxaca a partir de la determinación y evaluación de la jerarquía funcional de sus centros regionales, la distribución territorial de sus atractivos turísticos y, principalmente, la accesibilidad regional mediante el análisis su red carretera, con el fin de establecer una jerarquización de regiones y determinar una plataforma cognoscitiva que permita contribuir en la planeación y racionalización del espacio turístico en la entidad oaxaqueña.

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to ascertain the territorial dimension of the fishing economy in Guaymas, Mexico. The geographical studies addressing this economic activity in Mexico and published in the last decades are scarce. For this reason, this research work is particularly important, as it outlines the fishery activities in one of the most active sea-ports of northwest Mexico, from a territorial perspective. The first part of this article explains why and how Economic Geography addresses fishery activities and which methodology we pursued to carry out this investigation, based on studies carried out by geographers, particularly in France and Argentina. Then the paper describes the natural conditions prevailing in the Gulf of California (also known as Sea of Cortez), a large inlet of the eastern Pacific Ocean that is rich in marine resources and where most of the main national fisheries are located. Guaymas is one of the most important sea ports located along the Gulf of California for its long fishing history and the variety of fishing species captured. This port, located in the southern coast of the state of Sonora, is a mediumsized city with a little over 100 thousand inhabitants; a considerable proportion of the local labor force works in the fishery sector and associated industries. Today, the fishery sector in Guaymas is characterized by a large number of artisan fishermen, a prominent fleet preciand the regular practise of illegal catching. This port is the seat of large enterprises, such as Ocean Garden, involved in the industrialization of catches (basically fish oil and fish meal) and their further commercialization within and outside Mexico. Two commercially important species have played a key role in the evolution and outline of the current territorial structure of fisheries in Guaymas. One is shrimp, with a fishery that recorded a boom during 1970-1990, bringing along a number of benefits for local fishermen in Sonora. This fishery declined in subsequent years, mostly due to the overexploitation of shrimp banks and the incorporation of private capital investors to the local shrimp economy; the downward trend of this fishery in Guaymas is still evident. For its part, sardine, particularly Monterey sardine, is the other important species in the economy in this sea port. It is captured to meet the demand for oil and fish meal. Since the 1960s, Guaymas has become Mexico's sardine port, as this species is at the core of the territorial structure of fisheries in this city. A significant volume of sardine biomass has been captured in the last 50 years in Guaymas, resulting in the overexploitation of the resource which, along with water pollution, has led to the collapse of sardine populations. Nonetheless, stakeholders and authorities involved this fishery have obtained the international certification of local sardine catches. There are several enterprises located in Guaymas dedicated to the industrial processing of sardine. These are vertically integrated, so they can easily buy catches, process them and sell the manufactured products both in Mexico and abroad. Markets for these and other fishing products are located at a considerable distance from Guaymas, including Mexico City, Guadalajara, Mexicali and Chihuahua City, as well and several places in California, United States. The territorial structure of the fishing economy in this part of Mexico is arranged on a spatial platform constituted by high-volume and diverse annual catches, an integrated sea port that not only addresses the needs of this economy but also serves the robust industrial and agricultural sectors of Sonora. Shipyards, large enterprises (national and foreign) involved in the fishing industry, banks, academic research centers and government offices can be added to the local fishing infrastructure. The geographical reach of the commercialization of fishing products (processed or otherwise), including several markets located far from this port, is another factor that accounts for the central role of Guaymas in the fishing economy of Sonora and the Gulf of California.

Resumen: Esta investigación tiene como objetivo principal analizar la estructura territorial de la actividad pesquera en Guaymas, Sonora. El trabajo se divide en tres partes: en primer término, se exponen las posiciones teórico-metodológicas de la investigación, al tiempo que se contextualiza la situación de este sector económico en América Latina y México. En seguida, se revisan las condiciones geográficofísicas del Golfo de California, y se caracteriza la situación general de la actividad pesquera en esta región. En tercer lugar, se examina el escenario específico de Guaymas, observando la situación de los pescadores artesanales, las peculiaridades de la cadena de valor de la principal especie capturada y principal recurso pesquero local (la sardina), así como las características de la pesquería del camarón y de la acuicultura. En consideración de lo anterior se elaboró un mapa sintético que revela la dimensión territorial de la economía pesquera en esta parte de México, y que muestra a Guaymas como el nodo principal que articula los diversos eslabonamientos de la pesca sonorense, desde la captura a su comercialización internacional.

Abstract: This paper examines the territorial effects of a Program geared to alleviating poverty, called Oportunidades. This is done by looking at the consequences of cash transfers of this program in an ethnic settlement, La Concordia, in the State of Guerrero, Mexico. A semi-structured questionnaire was the research instrument useful to interrogate key actors of the local commercial sector about demand-offer trends in La Concordia. We firstly describe the socio-economic characteristics of Ayutla, its role in the dynamic of the regional economy and the type of commercial activity present in county seat and smaller villages, most of which have a predominant indian population. We go on to explain the transformations derived from the type and kind of commercial activity produced by Oportunidades in La Concordia, during the days when cash transfers occur.

Resumen: El trabajo analiza los cambios que las transferencias condicionadas en efectivo (TCE) originan en el comercio de una localidad indígena guerrerense. La entrevista semiestructurada dio pauta para abordar a los actores clave que intervienen en la modificación de la oferta y demanda de productos básicos en La Concordia, poblado del municipio de Ayutla de los Libres, Guerrero, México. Se exponen los rasgos socioeconómicos de esa demarcación; el papel de la ciudad de Ayutla, en la dinámica económico-regional; y el tipo de actividad comercial de los asentamientos con presencia significativa de población originaria. A la postre, se revela la transformación de las transacciones comerciales concordenses durante los días en los que tiene lugar la recepción de subvenciones vinculadas al programa Oportunidades.

At the national scale, the territorial distribution of Catholic shrines in Mexico extends across the entire country. Nevertheless. some of these shrines, especially those associated with miraculous events, are distinguished for their spiritual magnetism and unique character. Geographical research on this topic is rather limited in Mexico, compared to the relatively abundant academic work done by anthropologists on sacred places located in areas with strong indigenous populations. Geographical research can lead to the disclosure of devotional manifestations in particular regional milieus and the revelation of new types of catholic shrines, by considering the history of their founding. This would represent a new research platform, which would be useful in examining the devotional richness of the Mexican people.

Los santuarios católicos en México presentan una distribución territorial extendida en el territorio nacional. Sin embargo, algunos relacionados con acontecimientos milagrosos marcan lugares específicos que se distinguen por su magnetismo espiritual y su carácter identitario. Las experiencias investigativas de geógrafos, acerca del tema, son escasas en el país; los antropólogos son los que han estudiado los lugares sagrados, en particular, en regiones de una presencia importante de población indígena. En este sentido, la indagación geográfica posibilitó revelar las manifestaciones devocionales que perviven en los contextos regionales; la tipología revelada y los tipos nuevos de santuarios católicos hallados en este trabajo, de acuerdo con sus historias fundacionales, representan una plataforma investigativa novedosa que documenta la riqueza devocional de la religiosidad popular mexicana.

The aim of this paper is to reveal the nuclei, flows and surfaces generated by tourism in Guatemala that, nowadays, constitute the basis for the promotion of the country in the international market. Following the trend in Central America, and after a long civil war, Guatemala is encouraging the growth of its tourism economy. The starting point of this research is rooted in the fact that there are only a handful of places, distributed over the Guatemalan territory, that articulate the tourist flows (constituted mainly by international visitors) and onto which tourism surfaces are being constructed. We assume that this territorial structure is still weak, does not include all areas of the country and it is mostly dependant on regional emitting markets. The context of the territorial structure of tourism in Guatemala suggests that all countries in the region are competing to get access to the international tourism market and that this competition will be decided in favour of those nations that mastermind the administration of their natural and cultural resources. At the end of the text, we comment on the basics of the territorial structure found by our study.

El objetivo de esta investigación es detectar los núcleos, flujos y superficies que se generan por la inserción del turismo en Guatemala y que permiten explicar la base sobre la cual se pretende incluir al territorio guatemalteco como espacio preferencial del turismo internacional. Este país, después de un periodo alargado de cruenta guerra civil, poco a poco, al igual que el resto de América Central, se ha incorporado al mercado mundial del turismo. Se parte de la idea de que existen algunos puntos distribuidos en el territorio guatemalteco que son los que articulan los flujos y establecen las superficies de interés para la actividad turística cuyos clientes principales son extranjeros. Se asume que tal estructura territorial todavía es débil y no enhebra a todas las regiones de esta nación, amén de que se depende de mercados emisores poco diversificados. El contexto que contiene tal tendencia indica que los países vecinos de Guatemala también están interesados en participar y atraer la mayor cantidad de turistas extranjeros posible, en una confrontación que dará ventaja a aquellas naciones que sepan administrar mejor sus recursos para fomentar la actividad turística. Al término del trabajo se exponen las características esenciales de la estructura territorial hallada.

This paper presents an economic classification for the municipalities of Guerrero, Mexico, in terms of successive quotients. An outline of the concepts underlying this branch of Economic Geography is followed by a description of the method used to determine the economic orientations for 1970 and 2000. The economy of Guerrero has changed from one that was specialized in the primary sector to structures in which the tertiary and secondary sectors have more weight.

Este trabajo expone una tipología económico-productiva de los municipios guerrerenses, desde el enfoque de los cocientes sucesivos. Primero, se hace alusión a los antecedentes cognoscitivos de esa vertiente de la Geografía Económica. En el segundo apartado se describe la secuencia utilizada para obtener las orientaciones económicas correspondientes a 1970 y 2000. Finalmente, se analiza y constata el tránsito de una economía guerrerense especializada en el sector primario hacia estructuras productivas en las que el sector terciario y el secundario tienen mayor peso.

This paper examines, from a geographical point of view, fishing in one of the poorest regions in the Mexican tropics: the Costa Chica in the state of Guerrero. Our central research questions is aimed to relating the existence of mediocre fishing grounds in these waters, the absence of both adequate infrastructure and forward linkages of fishing, particularly referred to the food industry, and the existence of trading channels monopolized by intermediaries; we assume that these factors have contributed significantly to the actual poor living conditions prevalent in the region, which in turn have stimulated notable migration movements in recent years. Among the significant findings of this study, worth mentioning are: fishing in this part of Mexico is based on the catching of selected species, particularly those with the highest commercial value, such as oysters; Acapulco is the major trading post for the Costa Chica fishing products; finally, we found out that a weak organization among fishermen and cooperatives results in their inability to resolve problems associated with the commercialization of their catching, leaving the door open for intermediaries.

Este trabajo examina la actividad pesquera desde un punto de vista territorial, en uno de los litorales más marginados del trópico mexicano: la Costa Chica de Guerrero. La idea central de investigación relaciona y concatena la existencia de recursos pesqueros medianamente importantes, la falta de infraestructura adecuada y de eslabonamientos hacia delante de la pesca con la industria alimentaria y la presencia de canales de comercialización monopolizados por intermediarios; se asume que estos factores inciden en forma directa en las condiciones de vida de la población de los sitios estudiados, caracterizadas como poco favorables y que alientan la emigración. Entre los hallazgos de investigación relevantes se pueden indicar los siguientes: el predominio de explotación referido a unas cuantas especies con alto valor comercial, como el ostión; la primacía de Acapulco como centro de acopio de los productos pesqueros y una débil organización de las cooperativas pesqueras que se manifiesta en una incapacidad para resolver los problemas derivados de la comercialización de sus capturas, lo que abre una ventana de oportunidad para los intermediarios.

This article examines the process through which the reception of remittances in the settlements of origin of emigrants encourages the transformation of the traditional housing and, in consequence, of the image of the local towns, which in the case-study settlements constitute the basis of their tourist potential. The main cause for the process of urban and architectural transformation in these towns is the surplus of economic resources related to the reception of remittances from local workers living in the United States. The dynamics of migration and tourism are viewed as a manifestation of a globalizing process that encourage expression of hybrid architecture.

Este artículo tiene como objetivo examinar el proceso a través del cual la recepción de remesas en las localidades de origen de los emigrantes incentiva la transformación de la vivienda tradicional y, por consiguiente, la imagen urbana, que en el caso de las localidades analizadas constituye el sustento de su recurso turístico. Se evidencia que la causa principal del proceso de transformación urbano-arquitectónica en las localidades lo constituye la recepción de remesas provenientes de trabajadores michoacanos en Estados Unidos. Se ubica a la dinámica migratoria y turística como manifestaciones de un proceso de globalización que configura expresiones arquitectónicas híbridas.

This paper examines the tourists' perception of the environment in which tourism is being developed in the coastal area of the Bahía de Banderas municipality, western Mexico. In this context, some major research findings, derived from a study on the environmental consequences of tourism in this part of the country, are presented. For over three decades, Mexican authorities have promoted Bahía de Banderas as a coastal scenario which still retains its original natural features; this favourable situation has attracted a large number of tourists throughout the years. However, the creation of infrastructure needed to meet the ever expanding demands of the tourism economy in the area has contributed significantly to the deterioration of the natural habitat, where tourism is expanding.

Este trabajo examina la percepción que los turistas tienen sobre el medio geográfico que acoge esta actividad económica en la zona costera del municipio de Bahía de Banderas, en el occidente de México. Para ello, se presentan algunos de los resultados más importantes derivados de una investigación realizada sobre las consecuencias ambientales del turismo en esta parte del país. Desde hace más de 30 años, distintas autoridades han promovido esta porción del litoral pacífico mexicano como un destino de playa que aún conserva lo original de sus paisajes naturales lo que, a lo largo del tiempo, ha atraído turistas de diferentes estratos socioeconómicos, provenientes de lugares diversos. Sin embargo, la creación de infraestructura para atender el crecimiento reciente del sector ha generado una alteración sobre el hábitat natural que acoge al turismo.

This paper deals with the issue of the territorial pattern of tourism in Monterrey, the third largest Mexican city, where manufacturing and associated services have always lead the expansion of the urban economy. It is assumed that due to the existence of ready available infrastructure, the increasing of those services has unintentionally sparked off the growth of the tourism economy. The text is divided in four parts: a) the position of Monterrey within the Mexican tourist hierarchy; b) the description of both natural and cultural resources that make up the platform upon which tourism is being promoted; c) the assessment of the most significant survey-questionnaire results from which the essentials of the territorial features of tourism in this part of Mexico were found; d) final considerations regarding the promising future of tourism in Monterrey.

Este trabajo tiene como objetivo central revelar la estructura territorial de la actividad turística contemporánea en la capital del estado de Nuevo León, ciudad cuya dinámica económica ha estado siempre ligada a la expansión constante de la industria y los servicios. Este proceso ha traído consigo, en forma no intencional, la existencia de una infraestructura que ha favorecido el crecimiento del turismo. Hay cuatro secciones básicas en el trabajo: a) la referente al lugar que Monterrey ocupa en la jerarquía turística de México; b) la parte más extensa del escrito explica la base natural y cultural sobre la que se ha promovido la actividad turística en los últimos años; c) la que contiene los resultados de la encuesta a partir de los cuales se revelan los rasgos territoriales notables del turismo regiomontano, y d) la parte final expone algunas ideas concluyentes que apuntan a predecir un crecimiento del turismo en Monterrey, en el futuro mediato