What a difference a year makes. Amid its bicentennial celebrations in 2010, Mexico was confronting issues ranging from economic woes to media-driven perceptions of a nation awash in drug violence.
This year, however, the story is about optimism and progress, with the group market playing an integral role in healing Mexico’s image and shaping its economic future.
Presented this September by Mexico’s Federal Department of Tourism (SECTUR), “The Economic Significance of Meetings in Mexico” report revealed that spending on meetings was up to $18.1 billion, or 18 percent of total travel and tourism demand in Mexico.
“These numbers may seem small compared with data from the recent survey of the U.S. meetings market, but we consider these numbers to be very good for us,” says David Hidalgo, meeting industry development manager with the Mexico Tourism Board (MTB). “Our meetings market is definitely growing.”
Mexico’s numbers, in fact, stand strong on their own, and challenges aside, it turns out that 2010 was not such a bad year after all. Led by the corporate segment (131,000), Mexico hosted 197,400 meetings in 2010, including 28,000 conferences and conventions, 6,300 incentive trips and 4,400 consumer shows. Of the 23 million participants in these gatherings, 85 percent were delegates, 9 percent exhibitors and the remainder comprising speakers, escorts and other attendees. Meetings-ready hotels hosted the majority of events (81 percent), with 13 percent held at convention centers and the rest in venues such as museums, stadiums and universities.
With other encouraging statistics besides, what lies behind the positive change? A confident, purposeful, multifaceted strategic plan that is as attractive to outside investors as to tourists, planners and groups.
Valuable Propositions
While the severity of Mexico’s ongoing drug-related problems is indisputable, public perception of the dangers is arguably more out of hand than the violence itself. That’s why the Mexico Tourism Board is intensely focused on positive branding (“Mexico, The Place You Thought You Knew”) and public relations efforts. As reported in AdAge this summer, the Mexico Tourism Board’s newly appointed CMO Gerardo Llanes is reallocating up to one-quarter of the agency’s $100 million global marketing budget to public relations, social media and digital campaigns.
“We believe word of mouth is getting to be a better tool for us right now, especially now that we’re seeing some not-so-positive things in the media, especially in the U.S.,” Llanes said in the AdAge article.
The board is also seeking strategic partnerships with organizations and associations to connect global group demand with specialized suppliers in Mexico.
“We are increasing brand awareness and making clear to meetings professionals around the world that we have the resources to support them,” says Eduardo Chaillo, meetings industry executive director at the Mexico Tourism Board. “Mexico is ready and prepared to compete on an international basis. We have invested in the right physical and human infrastructure, and are putting significant financial resources behind supporting the growth of the meetings industry. Our goal, ambitious but achievable, is to achieve a place among the top 15 in the ICCA rankings.”
Additional strategies include promoting Mexico and its destinations at more than 80 fairs, trade shows and networking events around the world, and forming alliances with key international associations like ICCA, MPI, PCMA, HelmsBriscoe and Cvent.
According to the MTB’s Hidalgo, other initiatives are also under way.
“We are involving our meetings destinations in communication and promotion strategies, promoting international certification for all participants in the value chain and working closely in all bidding processes for congresses and conventions,” Hidalgo says.
Planner Pluses
With some 57 international airports and hundreds of daily direct flights from the U.S. and Canada, Mexico’s connectivity and accessibility are major advantages for meeting planners. In a time when every penny counts, value is another irresistible benefit.
“Meeting budgets go far with amazing properties offering very competitive rates in Mexico,” says Teresa Matamoros, director of incentive and corporate meetings with the Mexico Tourism Board. “Besides lower prices, our zero percent value-added tax represents an enormous incentive for planners, who save between 11 percent and 16 percent of the overall cost of their event. Meetings in Mexico are also fully deductible for United States federal income tax purposes.”
Speaking of incentives, Mexico has long been favored by many incentive companies that have created unique programs not only in the resort destinations but in cities like Oaxaca, Veracruz, Merida and Campeche.
“With all that’s going on in the world, people want to travel closer to home, which makes Mexico an ideal choice,” says Adam Lawhorne, CEO of Chicago-based Meeting Incentive Experts. “The hospitality is world-class, the widespread all-inclusive model is a perfect ROI fit for your travel dollar, and the value is absolutely there.It’s still a buyer’s market—and Mexico remains on sale.”
Expanding Infrastructure
With Mexico building up and enhancing its meetings, conventions and incentives infrastructure in both established and emerging destinations, leading hotel brands are expanding throughout the country. The InterContinental Hotel Group, for example, announced plans to invest some $500 million in creating 5,000 rooms in 47 new properties in Mexico between 2011 and 2014.
Grupo Posadas, the largest Latin American hotel operator in Mexico and South America and the parent of major brands such as Fiesta Americana Grand, Fiesta Americana and Caesar Park, is focusing the majority of its expansion efforts in Mexico. Representing a total investment of $334 million, the company is boosting capacity by approximately 30 percent across Latin America, opening 43 hotels with 5,742 rooms by December 2013, of which 70 percent will be in Mexico. In November, two of its key group resort properties—Live Aqua Cancun and Fiesta Americana Condesa—became all-inclusive.
In the Riviera Maya, meanwhile, the company is involved with the Chemuyil development, which calls for several hotels, including a high-end resort, a Fiesta Americana Vacation Club Property and one to two mid-range properties.
With 24 owned, managed and franchised hotels providing over 4,500 rooms, Mexico is the seventh-largest market for Starwood Hotels, with seven of its nine global brands represented here. In addition to the recently opened Westin Guadalajara, a Four Points by Sheraton will be opening in Mexico City’s Colonia Roma area.
Starwood Mexico also recently announced three new properties set to open in 2013 and 2014: The W Santa Fe, Mexico City’s second W Hotel and The W Retreat & Spa Kanai and St. Regis Kanai in the Riviera Maya.
As Mexico boosts its profile with new and improved venues and stepped-up promotional initiatives, Hidalgo believes the country will become a major meetings and conventions player in the international arena.
“While we must continue strengthening our industry and image, I am confident that by working with all our destinations and our partners, we will become an important part of the world market,” Hidalgo says. “Our vision is to become a top five destination by 2018.”
From all appearances, Mexico is off to a most promising start.
Jeff Heilman is a frequent contributor to Meetings Focus West.
