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Friday, May 23, 2014 3:06 pm
Mexico continues to be a hotspot for tourism — and a favorite among Minnesota travelers — and the Mexican government recently announced a massive spending program to continue the upward surge.
The extensive plans will focus on new infrastructure projects to upgrade roads, ports, telecommunications, water and energy facilities to sustain the country's growth in tourism and travel. All told, the government is expected to invest $315 billion (U.S.) to complete these projects by 2018.
Additionally, the private sector will partner to the extent of $8.6 billion in the construction and improvements of new and existing hotels as well as other public facilities.
Mexico's Board of Tourism expects that these projects will result in the creation of 28,000 direct and 78,000 indirect new jobs, which in turn will lead to an increase in domestic and outbound tourism due to higher incomes.
The investments are said to involve 176 specific projects across the country. In addition to hotel construction and refurbishment, there also will be investment in airport infrastructure, theme parks, marinas, golf courses, healthcare facilities and retirement communities.
All in all, the program will extend to 27 major tourist destinations spread across 17 Mexican states, according to media reports.
Over the last 20 years or so, the Mexican government has taken the lead in funneling billions of dollars in improving the nation's tourism facilities — most notably the actual creation of such sunspot destinations as Cancun, Ixtapa and others.
These measures, partnered with private investors, has boosted Mexico into one of the top venues for international travelers — that figure soared to 24 million visitors a year ago. Tourism now represents some 10 percent of the nation's gross national product and year-over-year increases continue to be reported,despite crime waves and drug wars that have occurred over the past several years. Most of these incidents have not occurred at Mexico's prime vacation areas, located along the Caribbean or Pacific coasts, but in more interior settings.
The areas seeing the biggest increases in tourism are the Riviera Maya and adjacent Cozumel, located in the Yucatan Peninsula. These are generally considered family holiday destinations and offer a wide range of activities. Historic Mayan ruins also are nearby.
Cancun and its beaches along the Caribbean comprise Mexico's longtime No. 1 attraction and last year hosted 4 million visitors, up from 3.6 million the year before.
Cancun boasts 14 miles of beaches — rated some of the best in the world and which we have enjoyed several times. Some of the activities there include art exhibits, golf, shopping at ritzy malls, theme parks, zipline experiences and others.
Its Maya Museum, which opened a year and a half ago, is said to be world-class. Its complete collection contains more than 3,500 pieces although only a tenth of the collection is displayed at any one time.
Another acclaimed site is the Underwater Museum of Art, a series of 500 life-size sculptures that lie on the seabed floor in the waters off Cancun.
Mexico is one of the favorite destinations for Minnesotans, according to a recent survey among Travel Leaders travel agents. As a international destination for this year, Cancun was rated No. 1 and the Riviera Maya No. 4, and Puerto Vallarta on Mexico's Pacific coast was rated No. 5.
Most airlines, most particularly Delta along with Sun Country, offer air-hotel packages that have proven to be extremely popular, especially during Minnesota's winters.
In its efforts to boost the country's tourism, the Mexican government organized promotional campaigns in key tourist source countries in an attempt to improve its image as a safe tourism destination.
Popular campaigns included "Mexico: The Place You Thought You Knew", initiated in 2010 to attract 50 million international tourists annually by 2018. With such initiatives, Mexico aims to become one of the world's top five tourist destinations.
