Spanish banking giant BBVA and the state of Chihuahua this week announced an alliance to provide digital services to the northern state’s Pueblos Mágicos (Magical Towns).
The announcement came just four days after BBVA México and the federal Tourism Ministry (Sectur) presented the Avanzamos por México (Moving Forward for Mexico) program aimed at boosting tourism across the country.
Chihuahua, where 70% of tourism businesses are unbanked and lack tools for cashless payments, is the first state to establish an Avanzamos por México partnership.
“Many tourism businesses here lack the basic tools to compete in a market where visitors demand easy payment options, formality and trust,” Chihuahua Tourism Minister Edibray Gómez said.
The Chihuahua Tourism Ministry (Sectur Chih) said the goal is to promote digitization and financial inclusion, while also boosting tourism, particularly in the state’s five Magical Towns — Batopilas, Casas Grandes, Creel, Guachochi and Parral.
“Promotion and infrastructure open the door [to tourists], whereas quality service and ease of payment prompt the visitor to return,” Gómez said.
Recorriendo México cada día conozco y amo más a mi patria y a mi pueblo. Eso me hace feliz. Esta semana cruzamos más de 700 kilómetros para visitar Guachochi, corazón de la Sierra Tarahumara. pic.twitter.com/VT4kTNh6Yt
— Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (@Claudiashein) August 21, 2023
In addition to the Pueblos Mágicos, municipalities and tourist locations will also benefit from easier access to banking services for micro-, small and medium-sized tourism businesses, as well as safer and more transparent payments for tourists. Additionally, the program is designed to strengthen financial inclusion through training in digital finance.
“The global trend is towards digital payments, which is why this strategy actively integrates the tourism value chain to modernize it,” Gómez said.
A publicity program will position the “Mexico” and “Magical Towns” brands in more than 8,000 ATMs in Chihuahua, as well as 6,000 self-service kiosks, 4,700 screens, 25 mega-screens and 1,600 branches, in addition to digital channels.
Furthermore, financial access and banking services will be provided for community tourism projects, financial and technological education will be provided to entrepreneurs in the sector, and financial incentives will be offered to tourists such as reward programs, interest-free periods and cashback programs.
With reports from El Economista, El Diario de Chihuahua and El Heraldo de Chihuahua
