THE Mexican Tourist Office and tour operators are turning their attention to promoting the lesser-known parts of the country as UK interest in the destination grows.
Regional director for the tourist office, Martin Ruiz Camino, said that although Cancun and Puerto Vallarta are important resort destinations, Mexico also has a lot more to offer within its interior.
A series of trade seminars and consumer promotions are planned for the autumn, focusing on areas earmarked for tourism growth such as the colonial city of Oaxaca, Mexico’s Californian peninsula and the former silver-mining towns in the northwest.
However, Ruiz Camino said the scope for a broader strategy has been limited by financial constraints since the Mexican government cut the country’s tourism budget by 32% last autumn. No actual figure was given.
He added: “Our budget is very low and that is a big problem. We have to do more with less which means working with more partnershipships.” As a result, the tourist office is aiming to get support from tour operators in staging agent educationals.
Bales Worldwide and Cox and Kings are among a range of operators expanding their Mexico product. Both are introducing tours of Mexico’s colonial heartland.
Bales’ new tour will effectively double the size of the operator’s Mexico programme from nine departures this year to 18 in 2000.
Cox and Kings’ latest tour begins in Mexico City and continues on to the former silver-mining towns of Queretaro, Guanajuato, San Miguel del Allende and Morelia, culminating in Guadalajara.
Product manager Lucy Nicholson said: “More operators are recognising the potential of Mexico and we need to add innovative product to remain competitive.”
Cox and Kings is also reducing its prices to remain more competitive. The cost of its 15-day Grand Tour of Mexico and Guatemala has dropped from £2,175 to £1,975, a saving of £200.
Kuoni is also cutting prices in a bid to steal a march on its rivals. Its 2000 programme features a number of savings, from discounted child places worth around £330, to two extra free nights on 12-night holidays at the all-inclusive Caribbean Village in Cancun.
Product manager Catherine Pearson said: “We have seen growth in Mexico and we want to expand on that by offering more deals in line with the Caribbean.”
The number of Britons visiting Mexico last year rose 50% from 90,000 in 1997 to 135,000 in 1998. This is expected to increase significantly this year following the April launch of a British Airways’ second weekly flight from the UK to Cancun.
BA general manager Americas Jamie Cassidy said: “Demand for Cancun has certainly exceeded our expectations. We have gone from one weekly service with a DC-10 to two weekly Boeing 777s this summer.
“The Yucatan peninsula offers a mixture of beaches, history and culture, and is proving extremely attractive to the UK travelling public.”
The growth of tourism from the UK has also prompted Aero Mexicana, the only Mexican airline operating out of Europe, to consider launching a service from the UK. It currently operates twice daily from Paris and once a day from Madrid to Mexico City.
The carrier’s UK representative, Elias Vivas, said: “The UK is a strong market for Mexico and we are considering coming to London.”