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ACAPULCO—Mexico’s largest tradeshow of the year, the 33rd Tianguis Turistico, kicked off April 13 and wrapped up last Wednesday.
At the day’s most attended press conference, Oscar Fitch Gomez, chairman and CEO of the Mexico Tourism Board, told a room full of press from around the world some final numbers for this year’s Tianguis. According to Gomez, the event drew about 1,000 buyer companies. Of those, 57 percent were international and 43 percent were domestic. As of Tuesday, 21,000 business meetings were scheduled, an increase of 13 percent from last year. Of the international buyers, 75 percent were from North America while 11 percent hailed from Europe, five percent from Latin America and nine percent from other countries. Mexico’s Secretary of Tourism Roldofo Elizondo also told media that a weak U.S. dollar could result in more tourism to Mexico. “With the American economy the way it is right now, there is a risk for a drop in tourism, but we won’t suffer,” he said. “We have learned that there haven’t been any cancellations for the first semester. We don’t know what will happen in the second semester, but we don’t expect tourism to drop. A lot of Americans like to travel to Europe and it is way more costly to go to Europe than Mexico. Mexico will be an important alternative.”