Double-digit growth is predicted in visitor numbers this year to rural Jalisco, where an overnight stay at a historical hacienda or manor is one of the unique experiences on offer.
Both Mexican and foreign tourists are increasingly willing to pay rates of between 2,500 and 10,000 pesos (US $130 to $520) a night to stay at properties that provide a rich experience full of culture, history and art, according to a report in the newspaper El Economista.
Antonio Gutiérrez Martín, president of the Association of Haciendas and Manors of Jalisco (AHCJ), said that visitors who opt to stay at such properties can expect much more than just a place to lay their heads.
“For example, in the city of Sayula, you could have a rate of 2,500 pesos [per night] but that doesn’t mean that they’re only going to give you a bed and a bathroom. It implies a complete experience, your senses – sight, smell and touch – will be awakened . . .” he said.
Gutiérrez added that visitors to Sayula, a municipality about 120 kilometers south of Guadalajara, can visit the house where acclaimed writer Juan Rulfo was born.
Sampling regional specialties such as cajeta (caramelized goat’s milk) and ponche de granada (pomegranate punch) and visiting workshops where knives are handmade by skilled artisans are also popular attractions in Sayula, he said.
Returning to the subject of unique, traditional accommodation, Gutiérrez said that the target market for historical haciendas and manors is people aged 40 years and older.
“Due to the rates we charge, it’s not easy tourism, it’s tourism in which the standards are quite high,” he said.
“We have rates of up to 10,000 pesos. For example, there are rooms at Hacienda El Carmen in Ahualulco de Mercado [a municipality 75 kilometers west of Guadalajara] where it’s quite an experience . . . [having] a private space with a private pool and spa,” Gutiérrez said.
He said that AHCJ data shows that 80% of people who stay at the organization’s 40 properties are Mexicans and the other 20% are foreign tourists.
The latter mostly stay at properties in or around the better-known tourist destinations of Tequila and Puerto Vallarta, Gutiérrez explained.
People who choose to stay at the haciendas and manors in Jalisco can expect a high-quality and memorable experience, the AHCJ chief added.
“. . . We have committees that review quality standards of each of our associates and that means there is a guarantee that the experience will be positive.”
Source: El Economista (sp)
