Mexico City attracts more tourists

Travel to Mexico City is 8 percent greater than it was this time last year, Miguel Angel Mancera, head of the Federal District government, declared in his first “state of the city” report. Although the Mexico City airport always has led the nation in arrivals, most passengers simply change planes there. Mancera based his figures on hotel occupancy. Most visitors continue to be business travelers and most are domestic, but Mancera maintains that a growing number of foreign tourists now arrive, attracted by the variety of accommodations, wide choice and restaurants, museums, archaeological sites and the excitement of being in one of the world’s great metropolitan areas.

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Jimm Budd

Reporting From Mexico City

Member of the Society of American Travel Writers

Slim Buys Loreto Bay

The Carso Group, headed by Carlos Slim — often listed by Forbes as the world’s richest man — has acquired the Loreto Bay project in Southern Baja California. Loreto, once the capital of all the Californias, decades ago was designated as one of Mexico’s new vacation destinations. The others were Cancun, Los Cabos, Ixtapa and Huatulco. At Loreto the fish are jumping and the palm trees grow high. To one side, hawks soar over the desert, to the other, pelicans skim the sea. The Sierra La Giganta rises up, jutting out of a placid cobalt sea. Yet in spite of many efforts, Loreto has yet to catch on. Most famous failure was a Canadian developer, David Butterfield, who started the Loreto Bay project in hopes of selling homes to the soon-to-be-retired. But Loreto can be chilly during winter, sizzling during summer, and is not easy to reach. Airlines suspended service due to lack of demand. But Slim is not known for making bad investments.

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Jimm Budd

Reporting From Mexico City

Member of the Society of American Travel Writers

Chapultepec Park facelift

Some 500 million pesos (more than $40 million) will be invested in sprucing up Section Two of Chapultepec Park, the area that includes Chapultepec Castle, three museums and two fashionable restaurants. Lakes will be cleaned and the miniature train put back into service. Work should be completed by the middle of next year.

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Jimm Budd

Reporting From Mexico City

Member of the Society of American Travel Writers

Fear of Violence Scares Tourists

Coahuila, Michoacán, San Luis Potosi and Sinaloa all have seen a sharp decline in international tourist arrivals, according to hospitality industry sources. All this while the overall picture has been good, an 8.4 percent increase in tourism over last year. Still, Coahuila, which borders on Texas, has been a battleground as rival gangs seek to control narcotics smuggle routes. Sinaloa, known for Mazatlán, is headquarters for some of the most feared gangs. Michoacán, famous for its viceregal era cities, and San Louis Potosi, have been plagued by organized crime demanding protection money from businesses. Even so, the Tourism Ministry points out that U.S. government figures indicate Mexico receives most American travelers who venture abroad.

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Jimm Budd

Reporting From Mexico City

Member of the Society of American Travel Writers

Tourism Ministry changes rumored

The Tourism Ministry will be leaving its headquarters in swank Polanco sometime next year, although its new address has yet to be announced. But according to rumors being bandied about, the new command center will include the offices of Fonatur (National Fund for Tourism Development) and the Mexico Tourism Board, known in Mexico as the National Tourism Promotion Council. Centralized control will enhance the clout of Tourism Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu considerably.

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Jimm Budd

Reporting From Mexico City

Member of the Society of American Travel Writers

Copper Canyon Airport

By October the Creel International Airport should be ready to receive its first flights. Creel is, for many, the start of the line or end of the line for Copper Canyon rail cruises, although the line starts in Chihuahua City and continues on to Los Mochis near the Pacific. Now this operation near Creel is the Copper Canyon Ecological Park. The Canyon is four times larger than the Grand Canyon and has been attracting about 200,000 visitors annually, but  promoters are hoping that this could increase to two million. Charter flights are expected to arrive from Phoenix, Tucson and El Paso as well as scheduled service from many points in Mexico.

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Jimm Budd

Reporting From Mexico City

Member of the Society of American Travel Writers

Promotion of religious tourism urged

Although 30 million foreign and domestic travelers visit various shrines annually, little is done to promote religious tourism, in the opinion of Blanca Espinoza, of the Mexican Travel Agents Association (AMAV). Half of the 30 million go to the Guadalupe Basilica in Mexico City while another four million visit the Sanctuary of the Virgin in San Juan de los Lagos in Jalisco. Blanca Espinoza called for more guided tours to these areas, better hotels catering to pilgrims and more. She noted 300 million people participate in religious tourism worldwide.

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Jimm Budd

Reporting From Mexico City

Member of the Society of American Travel Writers