Unfortunately, the Lacandon are unaware of the tremendous cultural
impacts that tourism can inflict on traditional cultures. The isolation of
Lacandon has helped them maintain their culture ever since they successfully
resisted the Spanish in the early 16th century. The modern world, however,
has created desires by the Lacandon for material goods and services
that are far beyond their capacity to purchase, thus creating a frustration
and a desire to turn away from a culture that has existed for centuries.
Other undesirable impacts from tourism are turning children into
beggars, producing arts and crafts for public consumption instead of a religious
expression, losing their Mayan languages, creating a desire to move
to the city to earn “real” money, and facing the problems of living in a city
with no modern city survival skills.