In Madrid, Spain, from the 22^nd to the 26^th of January, the 40th edition of the International Tourism Fair (FITUR) was held with great success, which achieved the highest attendance in its history with 150,011 participants from 165 countries and regions; 255,000 visitors; 918 exhibitors; 11,040 companies and an international participation of 56%, providing a positive economic impact for the Spanish capital of more than 330 million euros.

The governor of Baja California Sur, Carlos Mendoza Davis, attended for the first time in addition to being invited to participate in a Sustainability Forum.

Carlos Mendoza Davis, Governor, Baja California Sur

"Precisely because Baja California Sur is an interesting example in terms of sustainability, but also in development, in addition to having several meetings with airlines, with who we are seeing if more flights from Europe are possible for Baja California Sur and with resort developers, hotel constructers, Tourism intermediaries and wholesalers, in short, we are here to strive for more business for Baja California Sur… ”

Luis Araiza, State Secretary of Tourism, Economy and Sustainability stressed the importance of boosting domestic supply consumption, as well as the ongoing promotion of sustainability.

Luis H. Araiza, Secretary of Tourism, Economy and Sustainability for B.C.S.

 “…absolutely, our State’s main vocation, is tourism as well as, the know how to advance, for instance the supply chain issue  or  even training in order to bridge the gap where tourism , sometimes  is the same   generator of the deficiencies  in the social realm  ...

And in regards to the environmental issue, he said this:

 

Luis H. Araiza, Secretary of Tourism, Economy and Sustainability for B.C.S.”… Sustainability is in Vogue. Tourism can’t be distant to the matter so, due to the level of importance in our State for sustainability, it is totally immersed in this states tourist and economy agendas”

 

Alberto Peláez, Journalist: “…what we recently saw  happen with storm Gloria, it's over with, the Euro Delta is a disaster, it's a catastrophe;  but we all continue to consume plastics, and we’ll keep on doing whatever we feel like doing, so I mean,  things  will unfortunately go worse, if we don’t become self-aware.  

As in years past, Mexico participation shined once again by showing the range of  splendid  destinations.

Miguel Torruco Marqués, Federal Secretary of Tourism: “For me, FITUR represents the Spanish-Language   most important fair… “

The secretary referred to tourism statistics for this first year of his administration.

Miguel Torruco Marqués, Federal Secretary of Tourism: “Well, as you know, we closed 2019 with 44,700,000 immersion tourists, which represents 8.5% more than the previous year and in terms of currency $ 24,800 million dollars, 10.2% more than the previous year; In Conclusion, the goal of building 22,000 new hotel rooms was met, as well as some very good news which we shared today.  Currently 287,500 million pesos from 2,755 different projects throughout the 32 states in the Republic have already laid the first stone and will generate 90,000 new hotel rooms during 2020, 21 and 22 ...”

The secretary of tourism reaffirmed the government's objective to build The Mayan Train.

Miguel Torruco Marqués, Federal Secretary of Tourism:  “The Mayan Train is the biggest bet, it will make all Mexicans very proud and above all, that it will include benefits to the local population of Yucatán, Quintana Roo, Campeche, Tabasco and Chiapas…”

Los Cabos promotion leader , Rodrigo Esponda, spoke to us about a few of the teams  achievements during this immense tourism fair, along with our business partners,  and the talks about a new flight direct from Europe.

Rodrigo Esponda, Director of the Tourist Trust of Los Cabos: “… obviously the English Court, with which we have a long-standing working relationship, with Logitravel, which is another of the largest companies with AVASA, which is a consortium of travel agencies, located in different areas of Spain ... we’re also are checking all aspects  in order to have another European  flight, now from Spain  direct to Los Cabos in the short term ... hopefully next year 2021 it can happen, so we had a meeting with the president of ABORIS consortium  a very large conglomerate that has bought several companies in Spain and together with them we’ve been reviewing the data .. ”

Also announced was the World Purchasing Congress organized by the World Tourism Organization scheduled for next October where else but in Los Cabos.

Rodrigo Esponda, Director of the Tourist Trust of Los Cabos:: “… it will be the first time the UN-WTO holds its congress in Mexico and will be attended by the Secretary General and many officials and it’s understood in the sense of purchases, not only of what can be generated from transactions, but from local purchases, that is, what this congress is looking to do is encourage the consumption of local products… ”

Finally, worth mentioning, is that prior to the tourism fair in Mérida, Los Cabos was reporting intense promotion activity in three, major US cities, carrying out promotion caravans directed to galvanize various segments of the hospitality industry in the neighboring country .

Reporting from Madrid,  Armando Figaredo,

Edition by Allan Cobos

Translation. Tony Perez