Cancun was originally known as "Black Earth" and this northern district of Quintana Roo was populated by the Maya tribe up until the Spanish arrived. After the Spanish conquest most of this Black Earth's population died or scattered because of the prevalanece of disease and war. A limited population stayed behind in Isla Mujeres and Cozumel Island. How did this city get the name Cancun? The Mexican government had long been interested in turning Cancun into a tourist city. Many businessmen has also expressed interest in this project, including a Mr. Banco de Mexico who determined that the name Cancun would be a tourist attraction. Banco de Mexico started the process that would result in Cancun's modern day incarnation. With a 27 million dollar loan from the Inter-American Development Bank, he began to install the first infrastructure that would become the future Cancun in 1970.
There were only three residents when the modern Cancun was established and they were caretakers of a coconut plantation. In nearby Puerto Juarez, known as a fishing village, there were only 117 people. Believe it or not, the Cancun area was once relatively deserted! Investors were reluctant to trust Cancun as a tourist attraction and so the Mexican government led the way in financing the first nine hotels of Cancun. The very first hotels in Cancun were the Cancun Caribe (the first to be financed) and the Playa Blanca (the first hotel to be built). The names did not carry into a new generation but the structures still stand, now renamed respectively as the Hyatt Hotel and the Blue Bay Village. For a time the island was reserved for tourism and workers lived on the mainland; eventually the island was connected to the mainland by a causeway, which is a road elevated by a bank.
How much Cancun has grown! In as little as 30 years Cancun has grown from a small family to a city of 600,000 residents, along with four million of passing tourists every year. Cancun offers its residents and guests 140 hotels for a total of over 24,000 rooms. There are over 380 bars and restaurants in the city, while airlines report an average of 190 flights taking place to and from Cancun every single day. Cancun consistently works to accommodate its growing number of residents and guests. The population is a cultural mix of Americans and Mexicans, and the city is defined by its weather and atmosphere, its nightlife, its shopping and the historical artifacts. Guests can still tour the ruins of the Maya civilization, while there are also colleges and universities that offer higher education for residents.
Though it took hundreds of years for Cancun to be civilized, it sure didn't take long for the world to see Cancun's potential for attracting tourists. Cancun truly had great potential, from its prosperous and clean waters to its warm and sunny beaches. The city has managed to keep its charms, its majestic beauty and its cultural heritage so many years later.
