Mexico's Secretary of Tourism Rises to the Challenge

Forbes Woman
02/02/12

What do you do when you’re the Secretary of Tourism for Mexico, faced with what many consider to be one of the most negative perceptions in the travel industry today?

I recently sat down with tourism secretary Gloria Guevara to ask her just that. Appointed in 2010, Guevara inherited what most would view as an overwhelming and even insurmountable set of issues, all of which were beyond her control. In recent years, Mexico, a country where tourism accounts for 13% of its GDP, has been linked with every imaginable issue that would deter travelers: crime, violence, drugs, terrorism, health concerns, and so on. Compounding those woes has been the economic crisis in the US which represents an overwhelming majority of the Mexico’s travel market.

Move up Move down

Riding the elevators up to Secretary Guevara’s Mexico City office, I kept asking myself, “The challenges facing Mexico are so extraordinary, how can she succeed in reshaping the world’s perspective of her country as a travel destination?” But after spending just a few moments, I got my answer.

As we discussed the future of Mexico’s tourism industry, I was both inspired and astounded by a leadership style that enabled Guevara to view even the most difficult circumstances as roadblocks rather than walls. “The measure of a leader is often tested during a crisis. And those leaders who can engage directly, but still maintain their sense of perspective, are the ones that will help the organization survive,” says Guevara.

While the situation in Mexico can certainly be described as a crisis, travel to the country is on the rise and well-positioned for future growth. Here’s why Guevara is succeeding in how the world views travel to Mexico and why she may just be able to take Mexico from the tenth most visited destination to one of the world’s top five by 2018.

Defy Convention

Like a true leader, Guevara knows that many times you have to write a new playbook, taking an unconventional approach to the task at hand.

Rather than focusing the majority of communication efforts outward, that is, to the business and leisure travelers that support so much of Mexico’s economy, the Secretary realized that the citizens of her country needed to feel like stakeholders – stakeholders who not only supported her overall mission, but also understood how they could positively impact the larger goals of the country. So she tirelessly traveled around the country, personally meeting with the governors of Mexico’s 31 states, providing them an opportunity to share their perspectives and, most importantly, enlisting their support to help reignite tourism. She took the same approach with the business community and hospitality leaders who rarely had been engaged to collaborate on travel strategies with the government.

In order to be a change agent, the Secretary acknowledged the need to build consensus within her country, driving change through influence rather than leveraging the authority afforded to her by her title.

Authenticity is Critical

Secretary Guevara knew from the outset that transparency was key to meeting the tourism challenge head-on. She publicly discussed concerns around travel to Mexico, and she encouraged other elected officials, such as President Felipe Calderon, to do so as well. This had rarely been done in the past.