ABSTRACT
Urban tourism is an important circuit of the global tourist flows, both in the developed countries and less-developed world. Mexico has been inserted into the middle of these developments, with Mexico City occupying an important niche as a tourist city. Mexico City is the important tourist destination in Mexico, measured by hotel capacity, the volume of international tourism, and the quality of its heritage and cultural attractions. Eighty-five percent of the hotel rooms in the metropolitan area of Mexico City are located in the Federal District. The richest entrepreneur in Latin America, the Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, has proposed a very significant private investment in the Historical Center. The Historical Center remains as the main symbolic space for Mexican culture. The Historical Center presents an image that Mexico has long denied, its multiculturalism, and an image that has been rediscovered after the revolts in Chiapas state. The Olympic Games of 1968 prompted intensive investment in lodging infrastructure in Mexico City.
