Monday, May 11, 2009
Mexico Presents
Plans to Reactivate its Tourism Industry
Mexico Tourism
Board
· President Calderon
announces fiscal and financial stimulus measures for Mexico’s tourism industry by creating special funding for tourism
promotion with an initial contribution of $2.2 billion pesos (approximately US$165 million).
· The Mexico Tourism
Board is designing a plan to reactivate tourism and launch a new external branding and promotional campaign.
· The World Health
Organization (WHO) is not restricting travel in relation to the outbreak of H1N1 Influenza.
Mexico City, Mexico,
May 8, 2009 – Mexico’s
President, Felipe Calderon, announced that he will enable extraordinary fiscal and financial measures for the tourism industry
with the main objective of accomplishing a fast reactivation for the country’s tourism. In a message to the nation,
the President stated that a promotional campaign with the main goal of winning back the trust of international tourists, will
take effect soon.
Mexico’s government is working intensely
for the return of normalcy in the country, with the hope that tourists will soon return to Mexico and take advantage of the
beauty and excellent lodging, leisure, entertainment and hospitality that only Mexico can offer.
During a recent press conference Agustín Carstens, Secretary of Treasury and Public
Credit, stated that they will offer fiscal incentives to tourism companies, such as a 50% reduction of costs towards the use
of air space and cruise ports for the next three months. This plus a discount of 20% in management quotas paid to the Mexican
Institute of Social Security (IMSS).
These and other actions form part of the government’s
financial stimulus plan, which in total adds up to $17.4 billion (approximately US$1.3 billion dollars).
The measures taken to prevent the virus from
spreading have caused a huge economic impact and are critical to the tourism industry, which is the country’s third
source of revenue. Nevertheless, Mexico complied with federal and local sanitary protocols and collectively faced this
crisis. Upon the emergence of this new virus, which had the potential of turning into a pandemic, the Mexican government acted
responsibly in respect to the health of its people and in regards to the health of the world’s population; Mexico’s
officials had a vision and the strength to carry it out.
The World Health Organization (WHO), along with
US President Barack Obama, and Spain’s Chief of State Jose Luis Zapatero, have all recognized that it is unfair to accuse
Mexico of overreacting and for taking immediate effective actions aligned with international sanitation protocols.
In addition, last Tuesday Secretary General of
the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, stated that he would petition governments to annul their commercial and travel bans in place
due to the virus outbreak, unless the restrictions were founded on scientific evidence. Dr. David Nabarro, Senior UN Coordinator
for Influenza, said countries must explain to WHO their rationale for such measures, and he said that their effectiveness
is minimal at best. "We want to be very clear that WHO is not recommending travel restrictions related to the outbreak of
this novel form of influenza," said Nabarro. Both dignitaries’ statements are examples of the efforts being made to
create unity amidst a global crisis.
Financial institutions as solid as Grupo Santander
have expressed their optimism towards the adverse situation in Mexico, stating, “the Mexican government has acted magnificently
in regards to this health crisis,” confirmed bank president Emilio Botin. “Their actions have been phenomenal,
very different from past incidents where action was probably not as quick. But on this occasion fast action was taken with
real organized measures, and the country will come out of this crisis a lot sooner than expected … the virus will not
affect Mexico’s economy in the long-term,” he added.
Speaking about the current international crisis,
the banker emphasized, “Mexico’s economy has been coping pretty well during this global crisis and it is much
better prepared in comparison to other countries. We will continue to invest in Mexico,” assured Botin.
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The Mexico Tourism Board (MTB) brings together the resources
of federal and state governments, municipalities and private companies to promote Mexico’s tourism attractions and destinations
internationally. Created in 1999, the MTB is Mexico’s promotion agency,
and its participants include members of both the private and public sectors. The
MTB has offices throughout North America, Europe, Japan and Latin America. For
more information on destinations and online trip bookings go to www.visitmexico.com or www.mexico-update.com.
