The new “Visit México” online tourism promotion platform will be regarded as an important achievement and special legacy of the current federal government, says Tourism Minister Miguel Torruco.
The website was redesigned and relaunched last year with private sector funding but won’t be officially inaugurated until August.
Torruco told a press conference at the National Palace on Sunday that the aim of both the government and the private sector is to leave Mexico with the best digital tourism promotional platform it has ever had.
“And we’re going to achieve it,” the tourism minister declared.
He likened the importance of the website and associated tourism campaign to the Pueblos Mágicos, or Magical Towns, program introduced by the government of former president Vicente Fox in 2001 and the Angeles Verdes, or Green Angels, roadside assistance scheme launched by the Tourism Ministry in 1960.
Torruco said the government is working with the private sector to develop new strategies to combat the downturn in tourism caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
For his part, Visit México director Carlos González said that his aim as chief of the online platform is to inspire people to come to Mexico, develop loyalty among those who do come and help small and medium-sized tourism businesses create an online presence that allows them to attract visitors and thus recover more quickly from the economic downturn.
He highlighted that a promotional campaign dubbed “love you soon” was launched earlier this year to remind potential tourists of Mexicos’ natural, cultural and culinary attractions when many of them were sheltering in place due to the pandemic.
The campaign targeted potential tourists in eight different countries and promotional videos were made for the United States, Canadian, Australian and Chinese markets.
González said that another international promotion campaign will be launched soon under the slogan “Think México.”
A domestic version of the campaign, “Piensa en México,” is already up and running to encourage Mexicans to explore destinations at home. Spanish language videos promoting about half of Mexico’s 32 states have already been uploaded to Visit México’s YouTube channel.
The federal government has been widely criticized since it disbanded Mexico’s tourism marketing agency, the Tourism Promotion Council, shortly after it took office. Marketing funds have since been diverted largely to the Maya Train project.
Source: El Economista (sp)
