Whether heading north or south of the border, tackling international rules and regulations in planning a meeting can seem a daunting process. Add to that the press surrounding new passport restrictions, and hosting a meeting in Canada or Mexico may well fall off the proverbial radar.
After the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative went into effect Oct. 1 following an extension from an earlier deadline, air travelers must now present a valid passport to enter or re-enter the U.S. when coming from Canada, Mexico and other destinations.
But each country offers its financial incentives for foreign conventions, not to mention a wealth of natural and cultural attractions that far outweigh the extra paperwork.
Mexico dazzles with its grand spas and resorts offering the ultimate in pampering and luxury. Just as impressive is the breadth of Mexico’s cultural assets, its interior cities leading the way with museums, galleries, festivals, and performing arts.
From the crystal blue depths of its coastlines to the verdant heights of the Sierra Madre Mountains, Mexico features the gamut in outdoor adventure and scenic sojourns.
Not to be outdone, Canada pulls out the stops when it comes to natural terrain, ranging from the dramatic peaks of the Canadian Rockies to the tranquil ambience of Lake Louise and the waterfront settings of British Columbia.
Meanwhile, vibrant Western Canadian cities such as Vancouver and Victoria host their share of arts and cultural offerings.
Mexico
Warm hospitality and an enticing array of event options put Mexico over the top when it comes to playing gracious host for meetings. The country is just as comfortable throwing a splashy fiesta as a relaxing retreat, taking advantage of its five-star amenities as well as its cultural milieu.
Mexico offers over 3,100 luxury hotels with more than 245,000 rooms, and 52 exhibition centers with 3.7 million square feet of meeting space and 2.2 million square feet of convention space. But infrastructure is only part of the picture.
“We have discovered our real strength is our culture surrounding our infrastructure,” says Eduardo Chaillo, head of the Mexico Tourism Board in Washington, D.C. “Infrastructure is not enough. We have great diversity. Groups can hold a meeting in an 18th century [church] or luxury resort on the beach.”
Mexico is stepping up efforts to promote its meetings, conventions and incentives options. The latest program designed by the Mexico Convention Bureau, Your Best Reward Is Mexico, spotlights up-and-coming incentive destinations throughout the country. Launched in May, the initiative promotes alternative destinations to Cancun, Los Cabos and other established incentive hosts, focusing on a number of interior cities and positioning them as high-end incentive destinations.
Destinations will be rolled out in pairs under the program, the first two of which were Guadalajara and Veracruz. The next pair, according to Chaillo, will be Campeche, with its Campeche XXI Convention Center, and Oaxaca.
“Planners can take a look at the checklist we have put together for these locations to see that they are ready for the incentive market,” Chaillo says.
Checklist items cover the quality of the destination’s infrastructure, the number of English-speaking suppliers, the level of technology, and the customized events the destination can produce, among other considerations.
According to Mexico’s secretary of tourism, Rodolfo Elizondo Torres, there are about 15 small and midsize cities working to bring their facilities and services up to standard for incentives and other meetings.
“They want to make sure they can make a program and support it,” Torres says.
Plans are also in the works to develop several master-planned tourism areas in the next four to five years that are on par with Cancun and other major resorts.
“Some of them are on the beach and others are in the interior of the country,” Torres says. “One development will be in Baja California Sur and another one in the south of Quintana Roo. There will be another in Oaxaca and maybe another in the interior, in Chiapas.”
Meanwhile, planners can take advantage of tools such as the Web-based Meetings Online, which allows them to review meeting, convention and incentive options throughout the country and can help expedite the planning process. Meetings Online enables planners to submit RFPs and get immediate assistance from experts with local knowledge.
Mexico’s zero-tax program, which eliminates the value-added tax (VAT) for international meetings and conventions, continues to be a cost-saving benefit for groups. Additionally, meetings in Mexico are tax-deductible as part of NAFTA.
The one glitch has been the passport initiative, though Chaillo asserts it has not affected the meetings market.
“The effect we have seen is related to the visitor market, not with the meetings industry,” Chaillo says. “Most attendees are used to traveling worldwide, so they have their documents.”
With so many prime locations, deciding where to host a meeting in Mexico can be the biggest challenge.
Los Cabos, known for its array of water sports and golf courses as much as its bustling nightlife, continues to expand with new resort developments. Cabo Azul Resort and Spa opened this year on over 12 oceanfront acres, as did the Grand Mayan Los Cabos in San Jose del Cabo. Also under development is the 2,000-acre Puerto Los Cabos resort development, set to include a marina that will be surrounded by five hotels.
Groups are also treated to a wealth of brand names, with properties such as Crowne Plaza Los Cabos, Hilton Los Cabos and Westin Resort and Spa Los Cabos.
Acapulco is reclaiming its status as Mexico’s leading Pacific resort with a number of developments. Next spring Mundo Imperial will debut in the burgeoning Acapulco Diamante district south of the hotel zone. The complex will feature Expo Imperial, with 250,000 square feet of exhibit space and 115,000 square feet of meeting space, offering another option to the well-established Acapulco Convention Center. It will also house the largest ballroom in Mexico. Other parts of the complex will include Casa Imperial, a hotel with more than 800 rooms.
A rising meetings star on Mexico’s western coast, Mazatlan is renovating its downtown and adding a number of brand-name hotels, including the Crowne Plaza Marina Mazatlan, as well as a convention center. Famed for its sport fishing, Mazatlan also attracts visitors with its cultural offerings. Old Mazatlan encompasses 180 blocks with 479 buildings, each designated a historical landmark.
Mexico’s coastal arts and culture hub of Puerto Vallarta added to its luxury inventory this year with a new spa at the CasaMagna Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort and eight new spa suites at the Villa Premiere Hotel and Spa. The city is also working on a new convention center, though the timeline is still in flux.
Also seeing a growth spurt is the Riviera Nayarit, which spans 100 miles along the coast north of Puerto Vallarta’s International Airport. Top names like St. Regis Resort and Residences and Four Seasons are expanding their footprint with new resorts in Punta Mita and additional golf courses, and several other new resorts are on tap for the region.
Other Pacific-based meetings destinations include Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, featuring luxury high-rise options in Ixtapa and more intimate beachfront properties in the fishing village setting of Zihuatanejo, as well as the laid-back destination of Manzanillo, home to meetings-ready properties such as Barcelo Karmina Palace.
On Mexico’s Caribbean coast, the destinations of Cancun, Cozumel and the Riviera Maya are abuzz with tourists who come for the snorkeling, diving, upscale hotels, shopping and dining options, and nearby archaeological ruins.
Fresh on the heels of a $250 million government-funded recovery project following Hurricane Wilma in 2005, Cancun is sporting a major makeover, with a refurbished beachfront and several revitalized, meetings-friendly hotels, such as the Hilton Cancun Beach and Golf Resort, the Westin Resort and Spa Cancun, the Presidente Cancun, and the Hyatt Cancun Caribe Resort. Other meetings-oriented properties include the Gran Melia Cancun, the CasaMagna Marriott Cancun Resort and the Fiesta Americana Grand Los Cabos.
The destination’s main group venue, Cancun Center, also recently expanded to host more than 7,000 attendees.
Extending south along the coast to Tulum, Riviera Maya is filled with some 40 hotels for meetings and 30,000 hotel rooms, and top new resorts are coming online, including Fairmont Mayakoba and Mandarin Oriental Riviera Maya.
The island of Cozumel also underwent a significant makeover following Hurricane Wilma, and several properties have recently unveiled upgrades, including Presidente InterContinental Cozumel, which underwent a $25 million renovation.
Cultural diversity and tangible history draw visitors to Mexico’s interior, home to cosmopolitan metro areas such as Mexico City, and quaint colonial cities such as Morelia, San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato.
Mexico City continues to spruce up its historic downtown and other major tourist zones with the help of billions of dollars in investments. Groups find ample space at venues such as Centro Banamex, Expo Bancomer Santa Fe and Expo Reforma. Starwood’s St. Regis Mexico City is slated to debut in 2008, and Presidente InterContinental Mexico City will add a 240-unit tower and meeting facilities by mid-2009.
Guadalajara, known for its tequila and mariachi heritage, is in the midst of a building boom with the addition of more than 2,000 hotel rooms in the last year. Expo Guadalajara, with nearly 500,000 square feet of function space, is growing under a renovation and expansion project that will add more than 150,000 square feet by November 2008.
Monterrey is another meetings hub, with its Convex Center and new Lewis Exhibition Center, while second-tier cities are also well-groomed for groups, such as Chihuahua, gateway to the Copper Canyon and home to the Chihuahua Exposition and Convention Center, and Puebla, which offers the Puebla Convention Center and plans to debut a new convention and exhibition center in 2009.
In the state of Yucatan, Merida offers 5,000 guest rooms and is a jumping-off point for trips to the Mayan ruins of Chichen-Itza. The Century 21 Exposition and Convention Center is Merida’s main group venue.
Along the Gulf of Mexico, Veracruz is a vibrant, business-ready city that also boasts a wealth of outdoor adventure opportunities in the surrounding region. The city is home to the World Trade Center Veracruz, and several meetings-friendly hotels.
Canada
Western Canada proves that rugged beauty and upscale amenities make perfect bedfellows. Each province has its own appeal. Some 75 percent of British Columbia is mountainous, while Alberta features no less than five national parks. Manitoba lays claim to 100,000 lakes, and Saskatchewan draws canoeists and kayakers to its renowned Churchill River.
Despite Western Canada’s attributes, the Canadian meetings industry has felt the pinch from a combination of a weak U.S. dollar and new passport requirements.
“It is certainly having an impact on business we book,” says Dan Melesurgo, executive director, meeting, convention and incentive travel sales for the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC). “Some people don’t want the hassle, and association membership is worried about passport retention rates. Business has been pretty flat.”
Another slight change for foreign conventions is the general sales tax (GST) exemption. Under the old Visitor Rebate Program (VRP), which expired March 31, foreign conventions and meetings were exempt from paying the GST for hotels, facilities and convention supplies. A new program took effect April 1 to replace the VRP, the Foreign Convention and Tour Incentive Program (FCTIP), which offers similar benefits, but requires an application after the event for a rebate from the Canada Revenue Agency.
The CTC and local bureaus are available to help sort out the details.
“Perceptions around border crossings are still that it is a challenge, every aspect—the passport, how difficult it is to transport goods. But that is not the case,” Melesurgo assures. “There is just a little paperwork and we have resources and people to help.”
An even larger obstacle, the recent one-to-one valuation of the U.S. and Canadian dollars, has forced the Canadian tourism industry to rethink its target strategy.
“Canada used to be cheap,” Melesurgo says. “We relied on selling the value instead of selling the experience. We have to do things different.”
A lack of direct flights from the U.S. to many Canadian cities is also a factor, according to Melesurgo.
The CTC’s latest promotional tagline is “Keep Exploring,” alluding to the variety of experiences to be had throughout the country.
“One of our strongest sales tools is bringing industry events to Canada and also hosting FAM trips for site inspections,” Melesurgo says. “People are blown away by our facilities and levels of service and what we have to offer.”
The commission is focusing on a combination of urban experience and proximity to outdoor adventure.
“Planners want the city to be the draw,” Melesurgo notes, adding that the nature element is always a bonus.
For instance, groups can host a meeting in Vancouver and take a weekend post trip to Whistler-Blackcomb for skiing.
Vancouver sits at the apex of Canada’s tourism efforts, with preparations well under way for the 2010 Winter Olympics. The launch of Vancouver’s Olympics marketing campaign will begin in 2008, following the Beijing Olympics.
In light of the upcoming games, Vancouver is undergoing a number of expansions and renovations, including a $1 billion overhaul of the highway between the city and Whistler and a new light rail line that will connect downtown with Vancouver International Airport, located in nearby Richmond. Completion for that project is set for the end of 2009.
The Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre will also triple in size, from the current 133,000 square feet to almost 500,000 square feet. Construction on the nearly $900 million project is slated for completion in spring 2009.
“It adds a whole new level to what kind of groups we can accommodate,” says Dave Gazley, vice president of meeting and convention sales for Tourism Vancouver.
Several major hotels are undergoing renovations in advance of the big event, and newcomers include a 400-room Fairmont across from the convention center and a Coast Hotels property a couple of blocks from the facility. Additionally, an upscale Shangri-La condo-hotel with 120 guest rooms will be the tallest building in Vancouver when it is completed next year.
“Vancouver will shine in terms of exposure we’re going to get,” Gazley says.
Richmond, dubbed the “Gateway to British Columbia,” is in itself a meetings destination, featuring art museums, theaters and shopping galore. Richmond is also expanding group venues with the 2008 opening of a 300,000-square-foot trade and exhibition center.
Vancouver Island is home to two top attractions, Butchart Gardens and the historic city of Victoria, a hub for performing arts. The Victoria Conference Centre is the city’s main function space, and the Fairmont Empress Hotel and the Hotel Grand Pacific are among its primary meetings properties.
Golf is another area draw, with the Vancouver Island Golf Trail designed to let golfers explore a variety of courses around the island.
The island will soon be home to the 38,000-square-foot Vancouver Island Conference Centre, scheduled to open in 2008 in the town of Nanaimo.
The province of Alberta is home to Canada’s first national park, Banff, as well as Jasper National Park, the largest of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks. The town of Banff sits at an elevation of 4,800 feet, offering prime alpine views, with Lake Louise nearby.
The Fairmont Banff Springs, Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise and Rimrock Resort Hotel are all popular meeting and incentive options.
Calgary, Alberta’s largest city, retains an Old West spirit while embracing cultural pursuits, including the city’s own opera, ballet and philharmonic. The downtown Olympic Plaza Cultural District encompasses the 132,000-square-foot Telus Convention Centre.
Edmonton, Alberta’s capital, bursts to life in summer with myriad festivals. The Shaw Convention Centre is the city’s main group facility.
Manitoba’s convention draws are the cities of Winnipeg and Brandon. The 160,000-square-foot Winnipeg Convention Centre is one of Canada’s first convention facilities.
Saskatchewan’s largest city, Saskatoon, offers space at the Credit Union Centre.
For More Info
CANADA
ALBERTA
Banff Lake Louise Tourism Bureau 403.762.8421
www.banfflakelouise.com
Edmonton Economic Development Corporation 780.424.9191
www.edmonton.com
Tourism Calgary 403.263.8510
www.tourismcalgary.com
Travel Alberta 780.427.4321
www.travelalberta.com
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Tourism British Columbia 800.HELLOBC
www.hellobc.com
Tourism Richmond 604.821.5474
www.tourismrichmond.com
Tourism Vancouver 604.682.2222
www.tourismvancouver.com
Tourism Vancouver Island 250.754.3500
www.vancouverisland.travel
Tourism Victoria 250.414.6999
www.tourismvictoria.com
Tourism Whistler 604.932.3928
www.tourismwhistler.com
MANITOBA
Destination Winnipeg 204.943.1970
www.destinationwinnipeg.ca
Travel Manitoba 204.927.7800
www.travelmanitoba.com
SASKATCHEWAN
Tourism Regina 306.789.5099
www.tourismregina.com
Tourism Saskatchewan 306.787.9600
www.sasktourism.com
Tourism Saskatoon 306.242.1206
www.tourismsaskatoon.com
MEXICO
Acapulco CVB 866.283.3866
www.visitacapulco.com.mx
Cancun CVB 011.52.998.881.2745
www.cancun.info
Chihuahua CVB 011.52.614.429.3320
www.chihuahua.gob.mx
Cozumel Tourist Promotion Board 011.52.987.872.7585
www.islacozumel.com.mx
Guadalajara CVB 011.52.333.122.7544
www.guadalajaramidestino.com
Guanajuato State Tourism Office (Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende) 011.52.473.732.7622
www.guanajuato-travel.com
Huatulco Hotel Association 866.416.0555
www.hoteleshuatulco.com.mx
Ixtapa–Zihuatanejo CVB 866.678.5750
www.ixtapa-zihuatanejo.org
Los Cabos Tourism Board 866.LOSCABOS
www.visitcabo.com
Manzanillo Tourism Trust 011.52.314.333.3838
www.manzanillo.com.mx
Mazatlan Tourism Trust 011.52.669.913.3333
www.gomazatlan.com
Mexico City CVB 011.52.555.211.2136
www.mexicocity.gob.mx
Mexico Convention Bureau 011.52.555.278.4200
www.visitmexico.com
Mexico Tourism Board (Washington, D.C.) 202.265.9021
www.chihuahua.gob.mx
Monterrey CVB 011.52.818.354.1819
www.ocvmty.com.mx
Michoacan State Tourism Office (Morelia) 011.52.443.312.7289
www.michoacan.gob.mx
Oaxaca State Tourism Office 011.52.951.502.1200
www.aoaxaca.com
Puebla CVB 011.52.222.242.2546
www.puebla.gob.mx
Puerto Vallarta CVB 888.384.6822
www.visitpuertovallarta.com
Riviera Maya Tourism Board 011.52.984.206.3150
www.rivieramaya.com
Riviera Nayarit CVB 011.52.322.297.2516
www.vallarta-mexico.com
Veracruz CVB 011.52.229.923.0391
www.mayayuctan.com.mx
Yucatan Convention Bureau 011.52.999.942.1954
www.travelalberta.com
Zacatecas State Tourism Office 011.52.492.922.6751
www.turismozacatecas.gob.mx
