Mexico has cause to celebrate this year, particularly in its interior cities. September 16 not only marks the 200th anniversary of Mexico’s independence, the country is also marking the 100th anniversary of the start of the Mexican revolution, commemorated Nov. 20.
Mexico City’s Zocalo, or main square, is sporting a large digital clock counting down the days to the events, as are other cities such as Cuernavaca and Tlaxcala. Many of the country’s cities have spruced up downtown areas and are presenting special events, including a new venue, Expo Guanajuato Bicentenario, a multipurpose complex of pavilions in Guanajuato that is hosting performances and exhibitions through Nov. 20.
"The bicentennial is very important for us, especially in interior Mexico," says Eduardo Chaillo, executive director of the meetings industry for the Mexico Tourism Board. "The cities and places where the independence and the revolution’s most important events took place are in beautiful colonial cities. I think these celebrations will have a very important legacy in terms of infrastructure, especially in Guanajuato, Morelia and other places."
According to Chaillo, the publicity from the bicentennial will also have an impact in terms of marketing to groups, with more exposure to lesser known group destinations like Zacatecas and Aguascalientes.
"We have some opportunity on the perception side regarding these relatively unknown places," Chaillo says. "The perception is still there that meeting in Cancun or Los Cabos is frivolous. When groups say they are having a meeting in Guanajuato, it doesn’t feel like they are doing something frivolous."
Mexico’s interior cities offer groups a window to the past as well as unique ways to experience the region’s historic and cultural attractions, many of which are available as off-site venues. These unique venues add depth to any meeting and are in abundance from urban centers such as Mexico City to small Spanish Colonial towns such as San Miguel de Allende.
Mexico City is filled with intriguing off-site options and an endless supply of cultural diversions and meetings properties.
"[Mexico City has a] good combination of places to work and historical venues," says Carlos Mackinlay, executive director for the Mexico City Tourism Ministry. "Mexico City is a unique city with four UNESCO heritage sites. No other city in the world has that number of sites; that’s important. We are very proud of that cultural background."
The most traditional off-site venues preferred by conventions are historic locales, according to Mackinlay.
One prime spot is the Palacio de Autonomia, which was a convent during the 17th and 18th centuries and home to several schools in the 20th century. The building, located in pre-Hispanic archaeological site Templo Mayor, now serves as a museum and venue for special events.
"We’re very proud to organize events at Palacio de Autonomia," Mackinlay says. "You can have cocktails or dinner there, and you are looking at the ruins from the Aztec period, so it is incredible."
Another option for groups is the Colegio de las Vizcaines, founded in the 18th century as a school for orphan girls and widows. Some 200 years later, the building still serves as an educational institute and at night opens to groups for receptions and events.
Many of the city’s nearly 170 museums also welcome groups. Museo Nacional de Arte in the city’s historic downtown area was built in 1904 and founded as a museum in 1982. Today it exhibits Mexican and international art from the 16th to 20th centuries. Groups can host events in the galleries.
The newer Mexico City Museum of Modern Art in Chapultepec Park also hosts events, as does the Palace of Fine Arts, which presents a variety of performing arts, including Mexico’s renowned Ballet Folklorico.
The city is also adding a museum to its repertoire by the end of September, The Museum of Memory and Tolerance. The mission is to promote tolerance through the historical remembrance of the Holocaust and genocides that have taken place all over the world. The facility will offer a terrace for group events up to 1,000 people.
Long touted as the cultural center of western Mexico, Guadalajara overflows with off-site venues that showcase everything from modern visual arts to its history as the birthplace of tequila and mariachi music.
The Instituto Cultural Cabanas, a neoclassical construction from the early 1800s, has been used as an asylum, a military headquarters and a hospice and is home to artist Jose Clemente Orozco’s mural The Man of Fire. The institute can host up to 1,000 auditorium style. Its halls offer space for cocktail parties and receptions.
"The building is historic—one of the most important symbols of Guadalajara," says Karla Petersen, business intelligence manager for the Guadalajara CVB. "Groups can organize cultural shows, fashion shows, dinners—all types of events."
Another historic spot for groups is mid-1800s-era Teatro Degollado, at present the headquarters for Jalisco’s Philharmonic Orchestra.
Many haciendas in the area are also available to groups, including the century-old Hacienda La Magdalena, located about 20 minutes from the city and available for groups of up to 1,000, as well as Villa del Ensueno in the artisan village of Tlaquepaque. Groups can tour artist studios in the village and organize workshops in production of stained glass, papier mache, ceramics and other disciplines. The hacienda can host events of up to 120 people.
Mundo Cuervo is the most popular venue for groups along the Ruta del Tequila, including an open-air theater for up to 1,000 and numerous courtyards and patios. Groups can tour the agave fields by foot or on horseback, organize tequila tastings and host dinners and banquets.
Another option is to book a tour on the Tequila Express from Guadalajara to the municipality of Amatitan, where Herradura Tequila is located.
Situated at the foothills of Sierra Madre Oriental, Monterrey is one of Mexico’s main industrial and business centers. For groups, Fundidora Park, located on land once owned by the iron and steel company Fundidora de Fierro y Acero de Monterrey, offers off-site space, including options in its Blast Furnace No. 3 and Lewis Building.
Another location for groups is 16th century El Obispado, or the Bishop’s Palace, located in the hills of Monterrey and now a state museum. Other museums for off-site events include Museo del Acero (steel), Museo del Vidrio (glass) and MARCO, a contemporary art museum.
The Monterrey area’s natural attractions include the Garcia Caves, where groups can host events such as a dinner party 2,460 feet underground in a location over 50 million years old.
For groups heading to the historic town of Puebla, the city’s myriad museums are also available, including the Santa Monica Museum of Religious Art and the Amparo Museum of Mexican Art, with space for up to 200.
Convention dinners featuring local Puebla cuisine or receptions replete with mariachi music are often held on some of the colonial patios of the city. Locations include the patio of the former convent of Santa Rosa, the patio of the San Pedro Art Museum and the patio of the Casa de la Cultura.
Chihuahua offers a number of historic venues, such as the 19th century Government Palace, which contains a shrine commemorating Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, considered the father of the country. The first and second floors are covered with murals and the whole venue is available for cocktail receptions.
The Centro Cultural Quinta Gameros was originally built in 1910 by mine owner Don Manuel Gameros as a mansion for his fiance and once served as headquarters for Pancho Villa. Today it hosts cultural events and exhibitions, and can also accommodate groups in its garden for dinners or cocktails.
Most attendees take a side trip to the region’s most notable attraction, the Copper Canyon, via a 95-mile train ride on the Chihuahua al Pacifico Railroad, with stops in remote villages along the way.
One of Mexico’s most visited colonial cities, San Miguel de Allende, offers groups the Bellas Artes building, which was originally constructed in the 18th century as the cloister area of the Convent of the Immaculate Conception.
In Morelia, Casa de la Cultura is also the home of the Michoacan Institute of Culture, set in a historic monastery. The complex, which can host events, was restored and converted to its present function starting in 1977 with art workshops, exhibition halls, auditoriums and a mask museum.
Oaxaca opens many of its museums and historic buildings to groups. Venues include the Santo Domingo Temple, which can host dinners, as well as the Government Palace and Macedonio Alcala Theater.
In the Yucatan, Merida boasts a wealth of cultural off-sites. The Museum of Contemporary Art Yucatan has exhibition space for cocktails or meetings in the interior garden. La Quinta Montes Molina is one of Merida’s historic houses, built in the beginning of the 20th century for then President Porfirio Diaz. The gardens accommodate 1,200 people for sit-down dinners and 1,500 people for receptions.
