| | |  Travel & Outdoors 
Mexico Tourism Declared a Federal Priority
 Mexico Insight
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March 05, 2010
There are no political flies on one Rodolfo Elizondo Torres, Mexico’s Minister of Tourism.
Last year, when his boss, President Felipe Calderon, publicly announced the abolishment of his department (Tourism was to be folded into the Ministry for the Economy) Torres rallied the support of some heavy-weight state governors across the country and together they were able to demonstrate that the idea to do-away with the Ministry harbored serious misgivings. The announcement remained just that, and the Ministry of Tourism lives to see at least another year under Rodolfo Elizondo’s stewardship.
Elizondo was right to defend his department, and not just for selfish reasons. Tourism is a tremendously important industry for Mexico, one that - directly and indirectly - puts bread on the table for over ten million Mexicans. After oil and (more recently) foreign receipts from Mexicans working abroad, tourism is the country’s third largest source of foreign currency. Furthermore, although foreign tourism generates the considerable sum of US$7bn annually, domestic tourism is slightly larger, generating some US$8bn worth of trade each year.
Mexico’s oil reserves have, in all probability, peaked - and the country cannot rely indefinitely upon its people working in foreign lands to send money home. Tourism thus remains a golden-egg of Mexico’s economic fortunes and funding the presence of a Ministry to direct its affairs is a sensible choice.
Recently, the Tourism Ministry held a press conference during which Elizondo declared that tourism was now a ‘federal priority’ for the government, and that he and his team will be working to increase the ‘attraction and competitiveness’ of its offerings, with states and academia funded to undertake the studies necessary to better define the future of Mexican tourism. The underlying message of the announcement was that the Mexicans recognize world-wide tourism is becoming more competitive and so countries participating in this sector need to better understand the changing needs and expectations of travelers and develop services to suit them.
The era of ultra-cheap travel is over and hard-earned dollars destined for leisure activities will be spent with more care. Logic dictates that when prices rise, customers seek quality instead of volume. Mexico has, traditionally, serviced an ample range of markets, from the ‘pile-em-high-sell-em-cheap’ variety to the most exclusive vacations money can buy. That range will alter in the years ahead, and today’s announcement is simply another step on the path to reforming the way Mexico markets and runs its tourism business. |
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