Onsite: Will Tourism Tianguis Move to Mexico City?

Acapulco--Mexico's Tourism Tianguis 2007, the country's largest tourism trade fair, continued yesterday in Acapulco, Mexico with news of expanding the countries represented and of developments throughout Mexico. During an international press briefing, Rodolfo Elizondo, Mexico's secretary of tourism, and Francisco Lopez Mena, CEO of the Mexico Tourism Board, noted that this year Tianguis welcomed participation from Belize and Guatemala. Next year there are plans to open the invitation to other Central American countries so they can link their offerings to Mexico's tourism products. This predicted expansion of Tianguis has opened discussions to consider moving the event to a city other than Acapulco, most likely Mexico City, since the capital is the transportation hub for international flights. In a separate press conference, Miguel Gomez Mont, director general of FONATUR, outlined fresh objectives for encouraging development. Look for major developments in Nayarit in two phases, with Litibu receiving a FONATUR investment of $71.5 million and the second phase, El Capomo, receiving an investment of $59 million. Of interest is FONATUR's commitment to revive the beach destination of Huatulco. Mont noted that Huatulco could combine Ritz-Carlton type properties on one side of its bay, while establishing all-inclusive and three- and four-star properties on the other side. Given the attention luxury developments have been receiving throughout the world, it was interesting to hear Mont remark that FONATUR will devote some of its energies to projects for lower spending families, rather than just elite tourism. "These low income sites can be even more profitable than elite developments," said Mont. When asked if any developers had been scared off by last year's civil unrest in Oaxaca, Mont replied, "Only one investor pulled out of Huatulco because of Oaxaca. This investor has since returned with an interest in reestablishing his investment."