| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 112.3

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to the AHR online. About 267 words from this article are provided below; about 508 words remain.

If you are a individual member of the American Historical Association, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time. AHA members can go to the AHA individual membership section to locate their member numbers.
If you are not a member of the American Historical Association, you can:: • Join the AHA and receive many member benefits including print and electronic issues of the American Historical Review.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of the American Historical Review (104.3-present). Note: the Research Pass does not provide access to JSTOR's holdings of the American Historical Review.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 112.3 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Caribbean and Latin America

Dina Berger. The Development of Mexico's Tourism Industry: Pyramids by Day, Martinis by Night. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 2006. Pp. xvi, 164. $65.00.

The title of Dina Berger's book promises a depth and breadth of coverage that its brief text fails to convey. She deals only with the years from 1928 through the mid-1940s and focuses on the efforts of federal agencies and quasi-governmental bodies to develop tourism to Mexico from the United States. In 1929 President Emilio Portes Gil created the first of several federal commissions established over the years that aimed to convince Americans that Mexico was not only peaceful but also possessed the infrastructure, amenities, and historical and cultural attractions that would provide visitors with a satisfying experience. Berger emphasizes the contributions of Luis Montes de Oca, finance minister (1927–1932) and director of the Bank of Mexico (1935–1940), who was active in the Mexican Automobile Association and in the Mexican Tourist Association (AMT). She calls Montes de Oca the "mastermind" behind the 1938 creation of the AMT, a non-profit organization that received private and government funding. "More than any Mexican organization, the AMT remade Mexico's image" by organizing excursions and by producing tourist brochures, music programs, and press releases "meant to promote a holiday in Mexico as 'a vacation with a purpose'" (pp. 72–73). In the book's last chapter Berger shows how by the early 1940s tourist promotions and travel writers had created an image of Mexico City as a cosmopolitan capital with an exciting night life that could also boast of pre-Columbian pyramids nearby.

. . .

There are about 508 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.