In an attempt to reactivate tourism in Baja California Sur after the precipitous drop this year due to the coronavirus, state tourism officials in La Paz and Los Cabos have spearheaded an initiative to give tourism police a better command of English.

The pandemic and its resulting drop in tourism numbers prompted the state to rethink what it needed to do to be competitive in the hospitality sector, the Tourism Minister Luis Humberto Araiza López said.

His department is working with the Baja California Sur Autonomous University to offer free professional development classes in English to the two cities’ tourism police force members.

One way to get tourists back is by offering more and better services to the state’s biggest group of tourists — Americans, he said.

The initiative is being partly paid for the U.S. Consulate General in Tijuana, which supported the cost of the classes’ teaching materials and also teacher training, in recognition that the state is one of the biggest travel destinations for U.S. citizens and in recognition of the importance of Mexican law enforcement authorities having a good command of the English language.

Consul General Sue Saarnio and Araiza met on November 17 to discuss what Baja California Sur is doing to implement health protocols to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Source: El Sudcaliforniano (sp)