The first dedicated Mexico programme to be widely available through the travel trade goes on sale this week.
The launch of the tailormade brochure marks the first long-haul venture for Spain and Portugal specialist Mundi Color and, if successful, could pave the way for a major expansion into Latin America.
“Outside of Cancun, Mexico is largely untouched by the British market. We saw a niche for a quality tailormade product based on scheduled flights,” said product development and marketing manager Tony Maniscalco.
Copies of the Discover Mexico brochure were sent out to travel agents last week. The product range is comprehensive covering city breaks, beach stays and coach tours. Flights are with British Airways and Iberia into Cancun and Mexico City.
In the absence of an internationally recognised hotel grading scheme, the operator has devised its own categories for hotels ranging from bronze to platinum. A choice of properties is featured in Mexico City and smaller colonial gems such as Taxco, San Miguel and Oaxaca. Many of the properties featured are colonial style or smaller hotels with character.
Beach holidays are catered for with a selection of upmarket properties on Mexico’s Caribbean and Pacific coasts. The operator features eight hotels in Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen and Playa Car on the Caribbean coast.
On the Pacific Coast hotels are located in Acapulco and Puerto Vallarta as well as the up-andcoming resorts of Huatulco and Zihuatanejo.
The operator features a handful of hotels in the Baja California region which Maniscalco tipped for major growth over the next few years.
“Baja California is really going to take off. It has beautiful, unspoilt beaches, turquoise waters and inland the scenery is typical Wild West complete with cactus trees.”
It is also a good base for dolphin and whale watching.
Car hire will be available but Mundi Color is also offering a range of escorted coach tours for clients wanting to explore the country.
Tours are of four to six-days duration and take in colonial cities or the Mayan heritage of the Yucatan peninsula.
Maniscalco said that the coach tours could be adapted to suit a client’s needs or taken as an add-on to a stayput holiday.
Alternatively, clients can opt to explore the Copper Canyon, one of Mexico’s most spectacular phenomenons, by rail.
The canyon, which is four times bigger than the Grand Canyon in Nevada, is packaged by the operator as a five-day excursion with rail travel by day and overnight accommodation in local hotels.
Maniscalco said: “Mexico has huge potential. The prices are very competitive and it’s bigger than the whole of western Europe with lots of hidden gems to discover.”
He added:”The BA service into Cancun last year paved the way for this programme but it’s really just a toe in the water. If Mexico is a success we will be looking to expand further into Latin America next year.
“Our Spanish parent company is one of the largest tour operators out of Spain and already features tours to all of Latin America so we have all of those destinations at our fingertips. It’s just a question of adapting them for the UKmarket.”