Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - With 1,897 business meetings held between 74 wholesale partners (50 Mexican, 20 U.S. and 4 Canadian) and 90 Banderas Bay area hotels (50 in Puerto Vallarta and 40 in Riviera Nayarit) the 2014 edition of Gala Vallarta-Nayarit surpassed expectations, according to Jalisco Tourism Secretary, Enrique Ramos Flores.

The Tourism Secretary said that the wholesale travel event grew daily, as wholesalers with whom he has been working "set appointments that will result in important business to heighten the favorable trend that Puerto Vallarta has been seeing since last year. It was also greatly enhanced by the joint, and very successful, promotion with Riviera Nayarit."

He went on to say that the decision of the governors of Jalisco and Nayarit to stay involved in the joint promotion that the Mexico Tourism Board funded last year ensures continuing visibility in the major markets. The official added that the governments of Jalisco and Nayarit have already expressed interest in extending the joint promotional effort in the U.S. and Canadian markets, "because we are seeing such good results even in the short term, which is unusual because promotional efforts typically take six months or longer to pay off."

The current promotional budget is around $14 million dollars, he said, but "we expect the 2014-2015 winter season to exceed that figure since we have now turned our eyes towards the European and South American markets. Each of the two states will contribute $1,600,000 dollars, $3.3 million will be invested by the Federal Government, in addition to resources from the tourism trusts, airlines and tour operators."

Ramos Flores emphasized that the Vallarta-Nayarit joint promotional campaign has resulted in impressive growth in the number of travelers who have come to this destination. He even mentioned a meeting he had with the director of the Puerto Vallarta International Airport last Thursday, "because the numbers really impressed me."

He said that Vallarta tourism has seen a growth of 12 percent so far this year, which means that the destination has made a significant recovery, and that the more than 74,000 additional seats that will be added over the coming months will add to that figure.