Mexico City - The Ministry of Tourism (Sectur) relaunched the Visit Mexico website last week, thanks to an agreement with big players in the private sector, who agreed to make an estimated investment of $1.8 billion pesos ($90 million USD) in the digital platform over the next five years.

At last week's relaunch event, Mexico's Tourism Secretary Miguel Torruco Marqués said that "not a peso" of public money will go to the website, which was previously administered by the now-defunct Tourism Promotion Council. Instead, several large companies, including Google, the Discovery Channel, NFL México, and the Hilton and Meliá Hotels have committed to investing in the site.

The new digital strategy will be led by businessman Marcos Achar, who, along with Visit México director Carlos González, and other partners, acquired the company Braintivity last May, which previously had a partnership with the Ministry of Tourism.

According to Achar, the Visit México platform's managers will seek additional investment from tourism service providers and a range of national and international partners. The government's Tourism Diplomacy Council will collaborate with the private sector on the digital marketing strategy for Mexico's tourism sector.

He said that while the Visit México brand remains the property of the government, tourism companies, states and municipalities will now be able to make greater use of it.

The new and improved Visit Mexico website features 'mini-sites' for every state where visitors can find information in 10 languages about the destination's tourism offerings and attractions, as well as 'micro-sites' for various towns and places of interest. This platform also gives service providers throughout the country the opportunity to offer their products and services to potential visitors.

Sectur said via Twitter that the new site has three main goals: digitalization and modernization of the tourism industry, promotion based on data, and the attraction of more tourists through the provision of better information and more content.

A record 41.4 million international tourists traveled to Mexico last year, but to grow that figure, Achar contended that Mexico has to attract visitors with offerings beyond tequila and Mariachi. He hopes that by showcasing the vibrant, multi-faceted vacation experiences that Mexico has to offer, the new site will generate travelers' interest in visiting the country and give them reasons to come back again and again.

Sources: El Economista • Milenio