The town of Álamos in southern Sonora has opened a new convention center that is expected to help drive tourism in the region.

Álamos conventions director Danitza Rodríguez Sotelo told the newspaper El Economista that the state government invested 78 million pesos (US $4 million) as part of a larger plan to attract business tourism.

Work on the center, which has a capacity of 6,000 people, began in 2017. Rodríguez said that Álamos was the only location in the region with more than 300 hotel rooms.

He added that he expected the center to be a strong motivation for the construction of additional hotels in Álamos and in nearby Navojoa, amplifying the economic spillover.

The conventions director said that southern Sonora was uniquely equipped for hosting business meetings because of highway infrastructure and its proximity to large industrial and manufacturing centers, like Ciudad Obregón.

“Every year, Álamos hosts the Álamos Alliance event, which is the most important event in the northeast for economists. Our new convention center will be its headquarters. Scientific tourism is another of the new sectors that we want to integrate, along with conventions for the manufacturing industry.”

He added that in addition to the investment in the convention center, authorities have made efforts to involve residents in Sonora’s southern region in new business models and ventures for the past three years.

Rodríguez said that despite problems caused by the disbanding of the Tourism Promotion Council (CPTM) as well as budget cuts to the magical towns program, Álamos will continue to implement vital infrastructure projects with the help of private support and a new-found kinship among conventions directors region-wide.

“. . . we support one another,” he said. “We are working together to create internal promotion programs. There is regional unity here; I mean that in the northern states, we support one another.”

Source: El Economista (sp)