page_title: Economy of Oaxaca
section_title: Commerce and tourism
hierarchical_section_title: Economy of Oaxaca / Commerce and tourism
caption_attribution_description: English: Indigenous people (Native Mexicans) from all parts of Mexican state of Oaxaca, participate wearing traditional clothes and artifacts, in a celebration known as "Guelaguetza". Guelaguetza is held every year by mid-July. Photograghy from the 2005 Guelaguetza.
context_page_description: According to the Mexican government agency Conapo, Oaxaca is the third most economically marginalized states in Mexico. The state has 3.3% of the population but produces only 1.5% of the GNP. The main reason for this is the lack of infrastructure and education, especially in the interior of the state outside of the capital. Eighty percent of the state's municipalities do not meet federal minimums for housing and education. Most development projects are planned for the capital and the surrounding area. Little has been planned for the very rural areas and the state lacks the resources to implement them. The largest sector of Oaxaca's economy is agriculture, mostly done communally in ejidos or similar arrangements. About 31% of the population is employed in agriculture, about 50% in commerce and services and 22% in industry. The commerce sector dominates the gross domestic product at 65.4%, followed by industry/mining at 18.9% and agriculture at 15.7%.
  In May 2010, Standard & Poor's raised the rating of the state from ‘mxBBB+’ to ‘mxA-’ with a stable outlook.
context_section_description: The commerce sector divides into outlets designed to serve local needs and those associated with tourism. In 2007, there were 1,927 small grocery stores, 70 tianguis and 167 municipal markets. Tourism accounts for about 30% of the commerce sector of Oaxaca's economy. The state attracts visitors from both Mexico and abroad.
  The capital city Oaxaca de Juarez, is a major center for this tourism. The historic center within the city is the second largest (ranking behind Mexico City) in the entire country of Mexico. The historical center of the city accounts for 61 percent of the city economy. This also produces a floating population of around 20,000 people who gravitate towards the historic center for business purposes daily.
  Tourism is important to the state as it is the only sector that is growing and brings substantial income from outside the state. Most is concentrated in the capital with some along the coast as well. The state government has been pushing this sector heavily as a means of growing the economy, with major infrastructure projects such as the Oaxaca-Puerto Escondido-Huatulco highway (scheduled to finish in 2012) and the Iberdrola hydroelectric dam.
  In 2000, there were 612 hotels with 15,368 rooms. Thirteen of these were classed as five stars. The state received 1,564,936 visitors that year, over 80% of whom were from Mexico. The Central Valleys region receives the most visitors (60%), followed by the La Mixteca and Papaloapan regions (29%) and the coast (11%), in spite of the fact that only 7% of the states attractions are located in the Oaxaca city area. One reason for this is that the city of Oaxaca is only four and a half hours away from Mexico City via the federal highway.
  Most tourist attractions are located in the city of Oaxaca and the Central Valleys region that surrounds it. This area is the cultural, geographical and political center of the state, filled with pre-Hispanic ruins, Baroque churches and monasteries, indigenous markets and villages devoted to various crafts. The capital city, along with nearby Monte Albán together are listed as a World Heritage Site. Many of the attractions in the city proper are located between the main square or Zocalo and along Andador Macedonio Alcalà Street, known as the Andador Turístico or Tourist Walkway. These include the Cathedral, the Basilica of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, Museum of Contemporary Art (MACO), Rufino Tamayo Museum and the Mercado 20 de Noviembre Market, known for its food stands.  The most important annual festival is the Guelaguetza, also called the Fiesta del Lunes del Cerro (Festival of Mondays at the Mountain). This event has colonial and even pre-Hispanic roots but the current form began in the 1950s.  It occurs each July and features dance, music, theatre and much more from all of the state's 16 recognized indigenous ethnicities. The event is held in various locations in the city as well as the theatre at the Cerro de Fortin, which was built especially for the Guelaguetza.
  The largest and most important archeological site is Monte Albán, which was capital of the Zapotec empire. It is located 400 meters above the valley floor, just outside the city of Oaxaca. The buildings are aligned with the cardinal directions and the movement of the stars, with the idea of creating a place that would be a meeting point between heaven and earth. While the main ceremonial center has been excavated, there still remains many kilometers square of site to explore. Located at the eastern end of the Central Valleys, another major archaeological site is the ancient Zapotec center of Mitla, which in the Zapotec language originally meant "place of the Dead." Mitla is famous for its unique ancient stone fretwork. These mosaics are completely abstract with no representations of animals or humans.
  Between Mitla and Monte Albán there are a number of other important archeological sites such as Yagul, Dainzú and Lambiteyco.The most important of these three is Lambiteyco, in the middle of the Tlacolula Valley. It was occupied from 600 BCE to 800 CE and coincides with M
caption: Crowds at the 2005 Guelaguetza Popular, an alternative to the government run censored Guelaguetza.
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