The Land of Enchantment has allure and personality to spare. Birthplace of the atomic and space ages, the state has a long legacy of pushing frontiers while preserving the past.
Acoma Pueblo, an hour west of Albuquerque, is thought to be the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in North America; the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Taos Pueblo has been continuously inhabited for over 1,000 years; and Santa Fe, at 400-plus years old, is the oldest capital city in the nation. Enhanced by soaring mountain ranges, Old-West landscapes and natural wonders like White Sands National Monument, it’s no wonder that Hollywood has called here for decades.
Most surprising, inconceivable even, is that a set of otherwise travel-savvy consumers used words like “barren” and “dull” to describe New Mexico in a 2011 focus group. To combat that image, the state tourism department in 2012 launched its award-winning, still-running “New Mexico True” campaign.
“Our target audience, the ‘venturer,’ seeks a travel experience that is not manufactured—one that is true, good and real. One that will feed the soul,” said Monique Jacobson, then secretary of the agency, when introducing the multiplatform initiative. “New Mexico uniquely satisfies this quest because it is authentic and true in its people, landscape and culture.”
As the state continues to expand the program, which includes the episodic True Stories video series as told by locals and syndicated New Mexico True Television series, its core message is entirely relevant to the evolving emphasis on “experience” and “participation” in the group market.
Barren and dull? From hot heritage to space portals, the extra-dimensional Land of Enchantment is a storybook of departures from the ordinary.
Some Like It Hot
Halfway between Truth or Consequences and Las Cruces in southern New Mexico lies the Hatch Valley, the self-proclaimed “Chile Capital of the World.” In her True Stories video, local farmer June Henderson, born in 1924, shared her secret to longevity: “Work hard and eat a lot of chile.”
Busy (a relative concept in laid-back New Mexico) groups can expect to do the same. In the only U.S. state with an official question—”Red or green?”—referring to your dining choice of either the red or green chile (say “Christmas” for both), the green chile especially is deliciously ubiquitous. Strings of chile ristras hang everywhere in New Mexico, and in group destinations like Santa Fe, add a continuous reference point as delegates make their way from the Santa Fe Convention Center to the New Mexico History Museum, Loretto Chapel and other venues.
Groups based in Las Cruces, which features the striking LEED Gold-certified Las Cruces Convention Center, can easily experience the annual Hatch Chile Festival. Started in 1971 and now attracting upward of 30,000 visitors, this Labor Day celebration includes a parade, food booths, live entertainment and the crowning of the Hatch Chile Queen amid the tantalizing smell of roasting chiles.
The Las Cruces CVB can help coordinate group tours of the teaching gardens, chile tastings included, at New Mexico State University’s Chile Pepper Institute, host of the annual New Mexico Chile Conference.
Chile peppers dominate New Mexico’s food culture and $3 billion agrarian industry. Founded 2,500 years ago on corn and squash, farming is a principal contributor to the state economy, with New Mexico a leading national producer of peppers, hay, dairy, onions and pecans.
In Albuquerque’s North Valley, Los Poblanos Historic Inn & Organic Farm was founded as a progressive, experimental farm in 1934 and remains active today as a working organic farm. Set among 25 acres of lavender fields, cottonwood trees and formal gardens, this state and national landmark is an ideal choice for groups.
Designed by John Gaw Meem, “Father of Santa Fe Style,” the estate includes the 20-room Inn, La Quinta Cultural Center (built in the 1930s for meetings and events, and featuring Albuquerque’s first swimming pool), and La Merienda restaurant, featuring signature Rio Grande Valley cuisine using produce direct from the farm. Educational programs include the summertime Lavender Labs, while the Long Table Dining Series, featuring a cocktail reception followed by communal dining for 60, is an experience apart.
“Made with care and prayer” describes the line of Monks’ Ales produced by the eminently hospitable Benedictine monks of the Abbey Brewing Company. Founded a decade ago, this Old-World microbrewery is located at the Monastery of Christ in the Desert, 75 miles north of Santa Fe. Worth the drive alone—Georgia O’Keeffe’s Ghost Ranch, and the landscapes that inspired her, are along the way—the monastery, at the end of a dirt road, welcomes daytime visitors of all faiths from Monday to Saturday, with limited overnight accommodations.
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While the microbrewery is closed to tours, there’s a full-service tasting room at legendary Bode’s General Store on Highway 84 in Abiquiu, 27 miles to the south. The Monks’ Corner Tap Room is opening soon in Albuquerque; groups can also tour Abbey’s main facility and tasting room in Moriarty, east of the city. Former high-tech executive Berkeley Merchant, the company’s general manager, is available to talk with groups.
Far Out
New Mexico does have its arid, barren stretches. Otherwise, the landscapes are extraterrestrial, especially under star-studded nighttime skies, such as the spectacular Four Corners region in northwestern New Mexico, with Farmington as its group base. In the Taos Ski Valley, the new Kachina Peak chairlift summits at 12,450 feet, while back on Taos terra firma, fully furnished Earthships are an award-winning eco-friendly lodging option.
High in the mountains of Mescalero just outside Ruidoso, a.k.a. “Billy the Kid Country,” and two hours east of Las Cruces, the Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort & Casino offers 273 luxury rooms and suites, 40,000 square feet of meeting space, numerous dining options, championship golf, plentiful outdoor pursuits and more.
Also in Ruidoso is the 514-seat Spencer Theater for the Performing Arts. With its futuristic wedge-shape architecture and superb acoustics, this globally renowned desert jewel is an inspiring choice for concerts and private events.
Roswell, farther east, is home to the International UFO Museum and Research Center, dedicated to the 1947 “incident” that forever branded the town the “UFO Capital of the World.”
New Mexico’s legacy includes the very frontier of the future, developing the atomic bomb at Los Alamos, and detonating the bomb at the Alamogordo Air Base, or Trinity Site, some 60 miles north of Las Cruces.
Alamogordo is also home to the White Sands Missile Range Museum, showcasing the origins of America’s missile and space programs; White Sands National Monument, the world’s largest gypsum dunefield; and Smithsonian-affiliated New Mexico Museum of Space History. With venues including the International Space Hall of Fame, where George Lucas and Walt Disney are among the 2015 inductees, the museum’s New Mexico Space Trail identifies 52 statewide sites related to astronomy and space exploration, from Navajo sand paintings to the Jemez Mountains, where astronauts trained in the ’60s.
West of White Sands lies Spaceport America, world headquarters for Virgin Galactic and other space tourism pioneers. This futuristic high-desert complex offers an unprecedented creative palette for bringing meetings and events to life. Working with approved vendors or bringing in their own materials, planners can stage unforgettable happenings in front of the iconic Norman Foster-designed terminal building, on the 12,000-foot spaceway, or other areas.
Here and across New Mexico, the sky’s the limit for groups.
