Skift Take
The dissolution of the Mexico Tourism Board means that travel advisors and others involved in the selling and marketing of Mexico have lost a major resource. With safety perception issues still dogging Mexico, the timing couldn’t be worse — for the destination and advisors alike.
Already beset by challenges in selling Mexico, travel advisors and agency groups have concerns over its new government’s decision to decimate the Mexico Tourism Board, a key provider of marketing support, training and tourism promotion.
In recent weeks, the government announced its intentions to close nearly all of the tourism board’s 21 international offices and divert funds for tourism promotion toward construction of a new railway along the Riviera Maya.
Loss of a Partner
With national tourism support all but gone, Mexico suppliers and local tourism offices will need to play an even greater role than they do already in destination training and marketing, said Albert Herrera, senior vice president, global product partnerships, for Virtuoso, a network of travel agencies in the luxury sector.
But while local tourism organizations play an important part, the loss of the Mexico Tourism Board is somewhat akin to an orchestra losing its conductor, he noted.
“The parent tourism board makes sure the messaging is aligned and that there’s consistency in the value proposition,” Herrera said. “They provide a consolidated and shared plan for growing the destination.”
With hotels and other infrastructure expanding at a fast pace in Mexico’s most popular resort destinations, the need for support from a national tourism
