Mexico’s President, Felipe Calderon, announced that he will enable extraordinary fiscal and financial measures for the tourism industry with the main objective of accomplishing a fast reactivation for the country’s tourism. In a message to the nation, the President stated that a promotional campaign with the main goal of winning back the trust of international tourists, will soon take effect.
Mexico’s government is working intensely for the return of normalcy in the country and in the hopes that that tourists will soon return to Mexico and take advantage of the country’s beauty and excellent lodging, leisure, entertainment and hospitality that only Mexico can offer.
During a recent press conference, the Secretary of Treasury and Public Credit stated that they will offer fiscal incentives to tourism companies, such as a 50 percent reduction of costs toward the use of air space and cruise ports for the next three months as well as a discount of 20 percent in management quotas paid to the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS).
These and other actions form part of the government’s financial stimulus plan which in total add up to 17 million 400 thousand pesos (approximately 1.3 Million dollars).
The measures taken to prevent the H1N1 virus from spreading have caused a huge economic impact and are critical to the tourism industry, which is the country’s third source of revenue. Nevertheless, Mexico complied with federal and local sanitary protocols and collectively faced this crisis. Upon the emergence of this new virus, which had the potential of turning into a pandemic, the Mexican government acted responsibly in respect to the health of its people and in regards to the health of the world’s population; Mexico’s officials had a vision and the strength to carry it out.
The World Health Organization (WHO), along with U.S. President Barack Obama, and Chief of State, Jose Luis Zapatero, have all recognized that it is unfair to accuse Mexico of overreacting and for taking immediate effective actions aligned with international sanitation protocols.
In addition, last Tuesday, Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, stated that he would petition governments to annul their commercial and travel bans in place due to the virus outbreak, unless the restrictions were founded on scientific evidence. Dr. David Nabarro, senior UN coordinator for influenza, said countries must explain to WHO their rationale for such measures, and said that their effectiveness is minimal at best. "We want to be very clear that WHO is not recommending travel restrictions related to the outbreak of this novel form of influenza," said Nabarro. Both dignitaries’ statements are examples of the efforts being made to create unity amidst a global crisis.
Financial institutions as solid as Grupo Santander have expressed their optimism toward the adverse situation in Mexico, stating “the Mexican government has acted magnificently in regards to this health crisis,” confirmed President Emilio Botin. “Their actions have been phenomenal, very different from past incidents where action was probably not as quick, but in this occasion, fast action was taken with real organized measures and the country will come out of this crisis a lot sooner than expected…the virus will not affect Mexico’s economy in the long-term.”
Speaking about the current international crisis, the banker emphasized that “Mexico’s economy has been coping pretty well during this global crisis and it is much better prepared in comparison to other countries” “We will continue to invest in Mexico,” assured Botin.