New address for Sheraton

Sheraton plans to open a hotel inside the Latin American Tower across Avenida Juárez from the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City. This brings Sheraton back to the Historic Center of the capital, a neighborhood it was obliged to leave when owners of another nearby hotel changed flags, running up the Hilton banner. According to the Mexico City Tourism Office, more than $25 million will be invested in converting a dozen floors in the 44-story Latin American Tower into a hotel. The tower, completed in 1957, no longer is the tallest skyscraper in the city, but remains a landmark.

According to the same source, Marriott also will open a hotel in the Historic Center as well as inaugurating a Hampton Inn in the area.

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Jimm Budd

Reporting from Mexico City

Member of the Society of American Travel Writers

Pre-clearance at airports urged

According to Javier Arranda, director of the Riviera Maya tourism office, efforts continue to be made to win approval for establishing at the Cancun airport customs and immigration pre-clearance for U.S. bound travelers. This would allow planes to fly to any airport in the United States, international or not. Since clearance already would have taken place, on arrival passengers could simply pick up their luggage and head for home. Preclearance is available at several airports in Canada and the Caribbean. According to Arranda, objections have been voiced by nationalists in Mexico who do not want foreign authorities operating on Mexican soil.

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Jimm Budd

Reporting from Mexico City

Member of the Society of American Travel Writers

Acapulco worried

Troops are being sent into Acapulco in an effort to tighten security there. On Sunday, the biggest annual trade show, the Tianguis Turistico, is scheduled to open in Acapulco. This is regarded as the most important event of the year for the hospitality industry. Last week, a mid-afternoon in the main tourist area of Acapulco, a gun battle between cops and narcos left six people dead, three of them uninvolved civilians.

Last year the Tianguis began just as warnings about a Swine Flu epidemic cautioned Americans to avoid Mexico. Most restaurants in Acapulco and the rest of Mexico were told to close rather than risk spreading the disease. On the first day of the Tianguis, an earthquake rocked Acapulco, but did no significant damage.

Comments made last Wednesday by the new Tourism Minister, Gloria Guevara, have been ridiculed in the press. The minister said Mexico’s reputation for being unsafe is merely a result of what she called “perception.”

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Jimm Budd

Reporting from Mexico City

Member of the Society of American Travel Writers

Guide regulation promised

The Tourism Ministry has announced it will take a more active role in licensing and supervising tour guides. Ordinary guides are licensed after completing 160 hours of training and a 40-hour refresher course annually. Of concern are specialized guides conducting river rafting expeditions, kayaking, hiking and the like. There have been complains that their training and abilities sometimes are limited.

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Jimm Budd

Reporting from Mexico City

Member of the Society of American Travel Writers

Spring breakers many but tame

According to reports from Acapulco and Quintana Roo (Cancun, Riviera Maya and Cozumel), the number of students spending their Spring Break in Mexico is back to old levels. It fell last year, the result of economic conditions. But this season there was a difference. Many kids arrived with their parents.

“All of them were very well behaved,” reported Ana Mari Ibabien, public relations coordinator for the Riviera Maya. “Of course, they were warned prior to arrival to excessive rowdiness or worse could land them in jail. That may be why parents came along.”

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Jimm Budd

Reporting from Mexico City

Member of the Society of American Travel Writers

Bay Area workday event

Tourism Cares, the Phoenix Award-winning travel industry charity dedicated to preserving the travel experience, is targeting Angel Island State Park in San Francisco Bay for a massive, workday event. Hundreds of volunteers will gather together on June 4 to roll up their sleeves in this eighth annual event and come to the assistance of California State Parks, a system hit hard in recent years by a sagging economy and budget shortfalls.

Registration is now open at www.tourismcares.org/tourism-cares-for-america/tourism-cares-for-san-francisco-bay-2010. The registration fee is $99 and includes admission to all event functions including the Thursday night cocktail reception and Friday after-work barbecue celebration, as well as the official work shirt, hat and other event merchandise.

For more information, contact Jessica Ahern at jessicaa@tourismcares.org or (781) 821-5990. (Submitted by Society of American Travel Writers member Laurie Armstrong)

Tequila Express

Negotiations are underway to have the Tequila Express operate on Thursdays and Mondays as well as Friday, Saturdays and Sundays. And, if this were to come to pass, the train would actually go to Tequila (the town) for a visit to Cuervo Centro, the Tequila Cuervo visitor center.

The train goes to Amatitlán, where Herradura (Horseshoe) Tequila is distilled. The train is operated by the Guadalajara Chamber of Commerce, which hopes this is a way to keep visitors in Guadalajara one more night. The Tequila Express features all the tequila (or beer or soft drinks) a passenger can consume. Mariachis stroll through the cars. On arrival, there is a tour of the distillery followed by lunch, a show, and more free booze on the trip back.

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Jimm Budd

Reporting from Mexico City

Member of the Society of American Travel Writers