Mexico’s stand at Fitur opened

Thursday, 23 January 2014 00:10 
BY ROCÍO ZAYAS
The News


Tourism Secretary Claudia Ruiz Massieu invited Felipe, Prince of Asturias to visit Mexico on Wednesday.

Felipe, heir apparent to the Spanish crown, is also a former Olympic athlete and often represents Spain around the world at economic and trade fairs.

Ruiz Massieu’s invitation was made at the 2014 International Tourism Fair (Fitur), which is held in Madrid. The Fitur is considered to be one of the most important annual events in the international tourism industry. She said she met privately with Prince Felipe, explaining to him the importance of tourism to the Mexican economy.

“The prince was very receptive to the invitation, and we hope that we can finalize his visit,” she said.

Other officials participating in the Mexico Pavilion at the Fitur include Roberta Lajous, Mexico’s ambassador to Spain; Roberto Borge Angulo and Gabino Cué, the respective governors of Quintana Roo and Oaxaca; and Rodolfo López Negrete and Héctor Gómez Barraza, the secretary-generals of the Mexican Tourism Promotion Council (CPTM) and the National Tourism Promotion Fund (Fonatur).

The Mexico Pavilion takes up 1,045 square meters (11,248 square feet) at the Fitur and includes 104 booths promoting tourist destinations, tour operators, hotels and airlines, as well as four additional exhibitions showing off the cultural wealth of different regions of the country. According to Ruiz Massieu, this is the first time Mexico’s tourism industry has been represented at the Fitur in a united fashion.

The National Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Services (Concanaco-Servytur) will also be participating in the Mexico Pavillion. Concanaco-Servytur President Jorge Dávila Flores highlighted the importance and positive results of collaboration between the government and the private sector in promoting Mexico as a tourist destination.

Dávila Flores said that, apart from helping promote Mexico at the Fitur, which he said was the leading tourism fair for Latin America’s primary travel markets, the Concanaco-Servytur will also promote campaigns in the United States and Canada in collaboration with the Tourism Secretariat (Sectur).

Earlier this week, World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) President Taleb Rifai reported that international travel is on the rise — the number of tourists traveling abroad in 2013 increased by 52 million, or 5 percent, on the previous year, reaching the historic figure of 1.87 billion international tourists. Rifai said that international tourism may increase an additional 4 to 4.5 percent in 2014.