| | |  Travel & Outdoors | October 2009 
Mexico's Sectur Puts Trust in Lawmakers
 The News
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October 09, 2009
| | Rodolfo Elizondo Torres (Cuartoscuro/Israel Vera) | |
Mexico's Tourism secretary on Thursday said he was confident that lawmakers will make the right decision, as the agency faces possible elimination amid budget austerity moves.
Rodolfo Elizondo Torres said the future of Sectur depends not on authorities in the secretariat but on the federal government.
During the opening of the IX International Tourism Conference entitled "Perspectives in tourism: a business point of view," Elizondo said that the controversy should be focused on Sectur's functions and how to continue them in case it is eliminated.
Along with Sectur, President Felipe Calderón proposed last month eliminating the secretariats of Agricultural Reform and Public Affairs and having other areas of government absorb those functions.
The Economy Secretariat would manage Sectur's responsibilities, while Agricultural Reform and Public Affairs would be handled by the secretariats of Agriculture and Social Development and the General Comptroller's Office, respectively.
Secretary Elizondo also spoke on the necessity for the tourism sector to act responsibly ahead of another flu outbreak.
In the first half of 2009, the industry's revenue fell 28.1 percent as would-be tourists avoided Mexico fearing they would contract the H1N1 virus.
However, the Vive Mexico campaign to lure tourists back reversed the downward trend, helping to expand tourism by 25.2 percent during the summer as the flu scare faded, Elizondo said.
At the end of the summer, losses amounted to 2.9 percent.
The Welcome Mexico campaign was also successful in bringing visitors from the United States and Canada, but Elizondo predicted that losses compared to last year would be between 15 percent and 17 percent during winter months.
Despite the figures, "today we can affirm that in Mexico, we are prepared to face this virus, having the advantage that we know how do deal with it and how to combat it." |
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