Fuerza Migrante and Visit México today announced a strategic partnership devoted to generating and producing innovative mechanisms for the promotion of tourism and investment from the United States into Mexico.
As part of the effort, Visit Mexico and Fuerza Migrante will engage the migrant and Mexican American communities, so that they can be an integral part of this initiative, becoming ambassadors for the campaign.
Some programs will involve supporting rural and small cities in Mexico by investing in several sectors, like the arts and crafts, so that these communities can experience sustained development and are eventually able to generate higher levels of income, thus reducing the need to migrate north.
This will also, in time, stimulate tourism to these areas and states in Mexico, where the industry has been suffering the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During a virtual press conference, Visit Mexico rolled-out its promotional campaign “Think Mexico” (Piensa en Mexico), which seeks to bring private investment, sponsorship and other partnerships to the tourism industry at the local, state and federal levels. The promotional campaign will have an initial budget of about 280 million Mexican pesos -about US $13.5 million- of which between 20 and 30 percent will be invested in the US market to advertise over 100 touristic destinations in Mexico.
Miguel Torruco Marqués, Mexico’s Minister of Tourism, thanked Fuerza Migrante for its strong and longstanding commitment supporting Mexican communities in the United States, and considered that today’s announcement will be a very productive one.
Fuerza MIgrante’s president, Jaime Lucero, called upon civic organizations, community leaders, the private sector and trade associations to support and promote recreational tourism in and towards Mexico, which will help the country face the enormous challenges derived of COVID-19’s impact on the economy.
Mr. Lucero thanked the openness and availability of Visit Mexico to work on join efforts, so that the partnership can support development in Mexico, especially in the regions most affected.
The president of Fuerza Migrante’s Committee for Touristic Affairs, Fernando Rocha, said that his committee will follow the lead set by this strategic partnership, to work on long-term mechanisms to promote new or unconventional tourism routes in states that traditionally have large flows of people migrating outside Mexico, so that they don’t have the need to leave their home.
Avelino Meza, Secretary General of Fuerza Migrante, indicated that focusing on the future, the strategy will have a strong digital footprint, incorporating modern technology tools and platforms targeting younger generations, while promoting sport and medicinal tourism, among others, to generate more resources in the Mexican states with the largest number of people migrating to the north.
Marcos Achar, President of Visit México, underscored the importance of US-Mexico relations, not only given the geographic closeness of both countries, which will be critical for tourism in the post COVID-19 context, but also at the emotional level.
Carlos Gonzalez, Visit México’s Director General informed about measures that are already being taken to guarantee the security of travelers, including the highest security and hygiene standards.
The initiative will also have a special program from the Angeles Verdes corporation, that will support traveling by land in highways throughout the country.
