The Secretariat of Tourism is preparing to launch a 50-million-peso (US $2.6-million) tourism promotion fund, according to a hotel industry leader.

Tulum Hotel Association president David Ortiz told the newspaper El Financiero that Tourism Secretary Miguel Torruco broke the news during a meeting last week in Chetumal, Quintana Roo.

“He told us they’re close to having a trust with its own funds of around 50 million pesos for promotion activities. It’s good news of which we approve,” Ortiz said. The amount is a very small fraction of what used to be spent on tourism marketing.

The hotel leader explained that he didn’t have any details about how the funds might be used.

Shortly after the new federal government took office last December, Torruco announced that the Tourism Promotion Council (CPTM) would be disbanded and its international offices closed.

The marketing agency’s annual budget of approximately 6 billion pesos (US $316 million) would be allocated to construction of the Maya Train, he said.

The Senate approved the dissolution of the CPTM last month.

The government’s decision was widely condemned by tourism sector representatives, many of whom warned that the move would only benefit destinations in the region that compete with Mexico for tourism revenue such as Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica.

The Mexican Employers Federation described the decision to concentrate tourism funding on the Maya Train project as “almost suicidal” and the “wrong bet.”

However, Ortiz noted that while the CPTM no longer exists, diplomatic staff are undergoing training in tourism marketing so that Mexico’s embassies and consulates have the capacity to promote the nation’s destinations.

Some tourism businesses and local governments have also joined forces to fill the vacuum left by the closure of the CPTM.

Two airport operators, airlines Aeroméxico and Volaris, tequila maker José Cuervo and restaurant chain Hard Rock are among the companies that have stepped up to invest in marketing.

Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, and the state of Quintana Roo will both benefit from privately-backed initiatives.

Source: El Financiero (sp)