This Saturday the fifth edition of the PCMA Mexico Chapter was held in Los Cabos, Baja California Sur. Hand in hand with the Los Cabos Tourism Trust (FITURCA), it was possible to carry out this forum, which was the first to be held after the destination reopened due to the pandemic caused by Covid 19.

In this event, the highest international representatives of marketing and advertising were presented where they explained the new challenges that the meeting industry, event organizations and the implementation of digitization will face in order to better function.

Rodrigo Esponda, CEO of FITURCA, said in an interview that this is the first of many events in the destination and that he hopes more can be done. He also commented to the media that the meetings industry has a contribution of 6.8% of GDP for the state of Baja California Sur and represents 20% of the fourth night of the destination, which is of great importance.

The destination has had a gradual but correct recovery, says Rodrigo Esponda, mentioning that currently the guest's profile has changed, as younger people with higher incomes arrive, as well as entrepreneurs.

The general director of FITURCA also commented that they hope that from the summer of next year the influx of visitors to the destination will be able to match the estimated to achieve growth, thus anticipating the recovery of the meetings sector, mentioning that, to date, groups have arrived reduced although they have mostly been confirmed for 2021.

The most important message that FITURCA and the Ministry of Tourism want to spread with this event is that the events can be carried out in the destination, correctly fulfilling all the health protocols for the prompt economic reactivation that is very necessary for the well-being of the inhabitants. of the destiny of Los Cabos.

FITURCA has four tourism campaigns that have been very successful and useful for recovering from the tourist tension that the world is currently suffering: "Yes or yes", "Wear a Smile", "Love at First Sight" and "Los Cabos Rules" These are the four tools with which, together with the lodging tax and the support of the private sector, have allowed the tourism sector to sustain itself to move forward.

Compared to other destinations in the Mexican Republic, Los Cabos has a different dynamic of reactivation since 80% of its guests are international in nature, the majority being from California and Texas, thus allowing the tourist and economic reactivation of the destination to be faster. Another sector of support is that of real estate, timeshares and owners of the luxury segment.

"The image that Los Cabos projects before the national and international tourism market is very good," says Luis Humberto Araiza, Secretary of Tourism in Baja California Sur in the fifth edition of PCMA Los Cabos, Mexico chapter, mentioning that work has been done on the Hand in hand with promotional trusts trying to maintain contact with service providers who have carried out the strict sanitary measures imposed by the government to prevent the spread of the Covid virus 19.

 Los Cabos has obtained various certifications thanks to their obedience and discipline to follow hygiene measures, such as Punto Limpio and Viaje Seguro, give Los Cabos the assurance that they have done a good job in developing the pandemic, proving to be a Transparent and collaborative state so that the largest market, which is abroad, feels confident and safe to travel.

 The secretary mentions that FITURCA is a key organism since it is an organism that recovers thanks to the lodging tax, which gives it transparency regarding the expense invested in tourist advertising, guaranteeing a stable and safe promotion for the national and international market.

 The secretary insists that the State of Baja California Sur has done things well in terms of health security, hoping that a return to normality will soon be possible.

 Last year Los Cabos closed with 4,200,000 visitors between cruises and air travel, so it was expected that this year's increase by 10%, however, it will not be possible due to the pandemic and an approximate of 3.5 million is expected at end of the year.

 To conclude, Luis Humberto Araiza mentioned that it is time to remain united, generating alliances with the entities of the tourist sector of Los Cabos, mentioning alliances with CONAGO, CNET and Banking to strengthen tourism-related activities since tourism advertising has changed.

The presentation of the V edition of the PCMA Chapter Mexico, made known the professional points of view of important collaborators of the meeting industry of Mexico and the United States, being the first intervention presented by Marco Rea, general director of AB Planning who gave Knowing the importance of sales in each corporation, thus promoting the fact of improving communication and persuasion skills to break down the barriers regarding the offer of the tourist destination. He also mentioned that the ability to convert opportunity areas to advantages is essential to offer the Los Cabos tourism market as a global one, breaking the stigmas of high prices to convert them in favor of sale.

For his part, Marie Lou Coupal, Director of MMBC (Meeting Business Canada) and former president of PCMA Canada, who connected via Zoom, made his perception known according to the panorama that tourism is currently experiencing worldwide. Her concern focuses on the customer experience, innovation and adaptation of the service with new work tools such as micas, although not all organizations have them at their fingertips. For her, innovation and service must be focused on the new needs of customers.

Lorena Macedo, specialist in advertising and marketing who has national awards and incentives from the Gayosso Group, explained the importance of offering the client a real and pleasant experience. She commented that the industry is facing the greatest challenge of these times when facing fear for the millions of accumulated cases of Covid in the world, which has generated anxiety in customers and providers of products and services. That is why special attention must be paid to adapting the use of consumer utensils, as well as sanitizing and hygiene control of the spaces where the next events are presented, generating confidence for the attendees. She also spoke of the importance of reducing the days of stay for those attending the events as a precautionary measure.

Meredith Merrill, director of Care Delivery Programs highlighted the altruism and concern for vulnerable communities as well as the alarming crisis that has caused the pause that the tourism industry had to take in recent months, in figures. The airlines loss alone has been of 314 trillion dollars and explained that the housing occupancy is from 5 to 50% worldwide. In its range, the adaptation has been complicated since the borders are closed in Canada, the place to which it used to travel frequently, which has caused innovating with video conferences.

Whoever surprised with his innovative presentation was undoubtedly Luis Lambarri, CEO of IFAHTO, an agency specialized in the production of communication events and promotional marketing, putting on the table the most avant-garde issues of the day as he mentions the renewal of the diffusion of events, as well as the digitization of meeting points as an extraordinary measure to guarantee a pleasant experience for customers and businessmen. Virtual forums, specialized webinars and hybrid conferences mixing face-to-face and virtual communication as the latest trend in organizational and event communication.

Finally, Sara Haywood, Vice President of the Conferences at the National Council for Behavioral Health mentioned that finances have been threatened due to the loss of 6,500 opportunities in her company, which is why they have used virtual media to recover and get closer to their clients. and create the value of information through digital media, which has generated a cost similar to what they did when they invested in travel, since creativity has a cost. Mention the importance of good posture and lighting to retain customer attention and generate a successful sale.

Without a doubt, the new normality has generated drastic changes in the tourism industry not only in Los Cabos but throughout the world.

The possibilities offered by new technologies open the doors to a new modality one hundred percent adapted to the needs of people, so it is important to keep abreast of new tools and modalities to continue making events a transcendental and exciting fact.

In alliance with the Los Cabos Tourism Trust (FITURCA), the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) chose for the fifth consecutive year the tourist destination of Los Cabos as the venue for its forum for the meeting of national and international corporations that had the opportunity to share their experience and vision about the wide world in the international tourism market. This event is the first one held in Los Cabos, thus reactivating group meetings and conventions.

Following strict health safety regulations, Hard Rock Hotel Los Cabos opened its doors to an audience of ninety representatives from the local hotel, gastronomic, tourist agencies, suppliers and media sectors to publicize the new strategies that will be used to innovate. in the fulfillment of meetings, conventions and events following the guidelines imposed by the new reality for the tourism market.

"The contraction of world tourism was 44%, representing 180 million tourists, which gives a total of 145 billion dollars in losses, resulting in the loss of 100 to 120 million jobs in the tourist union," Luis reported. Humberto Araiza López, Secretary of Tourism, Economy and Sustainability explaining that it is a matter of urgency that destinations follow the protocols that will guarantee the success of a prompt reopening, giving Los Cabos as an example, which thanks to the discipline applied in the sanitary guidelines has Obtained the Clean Point Certificate and recently the Safe Travel seal by the World Tourism Council.

The purpose of the PCMA is to bring together international corporations, event planners, marketing experts and meeting planners in a single forum so that the audience can get to know their professional development, business strategies, international alliances as well as the new trends in the realization. of events mixing creativity and technology to venture into digital media as a measure of adaptation to the new reality we are living now because of the Covid 19.

For his part, Rodrigo Esponda, Director General of the Los Cabos Tourism Trust (FITURCA) commented that the purpose of this meeting is the exhibition and exchange of ideas as they take on greater relevance this year in contrast to previous ones due to the challenges that They impose the new protocols to carry out tourist and commercial activities.

"For Los Cabos it is of great importance to show the industry that the destination is ready to continue receiving world-class conventions and events, while providing certainty that the destination has specialized personnel to ensure the safety of attendees," he said. Rodrigo Esponda acknowledging the great work that the sector has carried out in managing sanitary measures.

"Los Cabos is ready to receive new events," said the director, thanking each of the speakers for their participation as well as the experience and professionalism they demonstrate in trusting and supporting this cause, also mentioning that more meetings are being sought at the local, national level. and international for the rest of the year.

The aforementioned forum also included the participation of the Commercial Director of the Hard Rock Hotel Los Cabos, Leonardo Mena, as well as the presence of Casa Hogar Los Cabos and Jesús Aguilar, president of the PCMA Mexico chapter.