MEXICO: RIU Opens 740 Riu Dunamar Hotel In Costa Mujeres

RIU Hotels & Resorts has just inaugurated the Hotel Riu Dunamar, the company’s first in Costa Mujeres and its eighteenth in Mexico.

The 5-star hotel is located on a spectacular white-sand beach with turquoise waters located 30 kilometres north of the hotel zone of Cancún.

The hotel, of new construction, offers modern facilities and fresh-looking decor in predominantly light colours. And it also has RIU’s exclusive 24-hour All-Inclusive service to make the Hotel RIU’s Riu Dunamar an excellent option for enjoying a relaxing holiday alone, as a couple or with friends or family.

The Riu Dunamar offers its guests 740 comfortable, light-filled rooms that have all the best amenities, like free WiFi, air conditioning, minibars stocked with soft drinks, water and beer, and beverage dispensers, among others.

The gastronomic offer is one of the Riu Dunamar’s strong points, as it offers gourmet, Asian and Italian options in its Kulinarium, Bamboo and Pompeya restaurants.

In addition to six different bars, the Riu Dunamar also has the Las Brasas steakhouse and its main buffet restaurant, Isla Mujeres, where local cuisine, rich in meat and fish and with indigenous influences, has a place alongside a wide variety of international dishes.

The hotel’s five outdoor swimming pools, two of them with swim-up bars, and the lovely beach they overlook, are perfect for enjoying the Caribbean weather. Another big attraction is Splash Water World, the water park that expands the hotel’s leisure options.

The RiuLand kids’ club, the daytime and nighttime entertainment programme for adults, the live shows and music, and the Pacha discotheque complete the wide range of options for enjoying every minute of your holiday.

The Hotel Riu Dunamar is also perfectly equipped for guests seeking maximum relaxation, as it has a sauna and hydromassage bath in the Renova Spa.

Hotel guests also have the option of scheduling hairdressing, beauty and massage services that send them back to their rooms feeling brand new.

RIU has just celebrated its 20th Anniversary in Mexico. It was in 1997 when the Riu Yucatan was opened in Playa del Carmen, and since then RIU’s commitment to the country has only grown, with it now representing its main international destination with 18 hotels for a total of over 9,000 rooms.

In addition to the new hotel in Costa Mujeres, RIU has hotels in Mexico located in Playa del Carmen (6), Cancún (4), Riviera Nayarit (3), Los Cabos (2), Mazatlán (1) and Guadalajara (1).


Tourism Observer

MEXICO: Murder, Armed Robbery, Sexual Assault And Kidnapping But Tourists Still Flock Mexico, Inspite Of Warnings

Mexico is always in the news for perpetual murders but tourists still flock there, why?

Last Sunday tourists watched as a man’s body washed ashore at Caletilla Beach in Acapulco, located in the state of Guerrero.

Horrifying images showed terrified tourists watching near the water as officials removed the body.

On Thursday, 16 people among them six police officers were killed in two confrontations also in Guerrero, during a bloody gun battle that lasted half an hour.

The next day, gunmen on water scooters shot at a roving vendor on a beach in Cancun’s glittering hotel zone, an incident believed to be unprecedented for the Caribbean city.

According to a police report, the afternoon shooting happened in front of a hotel in the heart of Cancun’s resort-studded strip. The vendor was unhurt.

It’s just the latest in a string of violence and gruesome murders in the country.

In Cancun last week there were 14 killings reported in a period of just 36 hours ,the highest ever in the country’s recorded history.

More than 100 people have now been slaughtered in Cancun since the beginning of 2018, as cartels continue to spread fear throughout Mexico.

However, tourists continue to flock to the hugely popular country despite these horror stories.

Mexico ranked as the six most-visited nation on the planet in 2017, with a whopping 39 million international tourists.

The notorious Acapulco, once an iconic destination for a beachside holiday, a glamorous combination of sun, sand and surf immortalised in film and song, has become a hell on Earth.

But that’s not scaring tourists from flocking there.

Tourists are certainly coming back, but it will never be the way it was.

You shouldn’t feel unsafe here. People believe everything they read in the newspapers, but for locals it’s not as scaring as reported.

Mexico is always in the news for perpetual murders but tourists still flock there, why?

Last Sunday tourists watched as a man’s body washed ashore at Caletilla Beach in Acapulco, located in the state of Guerrero.

Horrifying images showed terrified tourists watching near the water as officials removed the body.

On Thursday, 16 people among them six police officers were killed in two confrontations also in Guerrero, during a bloody gun battle that lasted half an hour.

The next day, gunmen on water scooters shot at a roving vendor on a beach in Cancun’s glittering hotel zone, an incident believed to be unprecedented for the Caribbean city.

According to a police report, the afternoon shooting happened in front of a hotel in the heart of Cancun’s resort-studded strip. The vendor was unhurt.

It’s just the latest in a string of violence and gruesome murders in the country.

In Cancun last week there were 14 killings reported in a period of just 36 hours ,the highest ever in the country’s recorded history.

More than 100 people have now been slaughtered in Cancun since the beginning of 2018, as cartels continue to spread fear throughout Mexico.

However, tourists continue to flock to the hugely popular country despite all horrible murders.

Mexico ranked as the six most-visited nation on the planet in 2017, with a whopping 39 million international tourists.

The notorious Acapulco, once an iconic destination for a beachside holiday, a glamorous combination of sun, sand and surf immortalised in film and song, has become a hell on Earth.

But that’s not scaring tourists from flocking there.

Acapulco is located in the state of Guerrero, which is experiencing a record tourist season.

The state reported more than 1.3 million visitors and during the summer of 2017 alone, Acapulco welcomed 690,000 tourists a 7 per cent increase compared to the year before.

Officials are desperately trying to make the area safer, including deploying 1740 police officers, 250 police vehicles, two helicopters and even drones to monitor the area’s main beaches, Travel Agent Central reports.

The Tourist Assistance and Protection Center has also recently opened, to respond specifically to any incidents visitors experience.

Local, state and federal government authorities are committed to providing the highest security measures for all visitors through the services provided by the continuous surveillance in the tourist areas of the destination.

The shared goal in Acapulco is to provide a safe environment for our visitors to be able to enjoy a pleasant stay.

However, tourist are warned not to visit Guerrero and Acapulco.

The US State Department issued an updated travel advisory on Guerrero this month putting it at level four, meaning tourists are warned to not visit.

Following the recent gruesome reports, Mexico’s tourism board is hoping to set the record straight when it comes to tourist safety.

While Mexico faces challenges with crime and violence, like many countries around the world today, the overwhelming majority of those incidents are related to Mexican individuals, the Mexico Tourism Board said in a statement.

In the very rare recent cases where foreigners have been impacted, the majority of the cases found that those individuals were involved in suspicious or criminal activity not associated with tourism.

While Mexico clearly has a huge problem on its hands, it’s important to note that some locations are experiencing more killings that others.

According to Mexico’s Government there were 29,168 murders nationwide in 2017, an increase of 27 per cent.

While the official homicide rate stands at 20.5 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2017.

Experts say it could be as high as 24 per 100,000 as the numbers are based on murder investigations, not murder victims and a single investigation could have multiple victims.

Guerrero had a significantly higher murder rate of 64.2 per 100,000 inhabitants.

The western state of Colima had a rate of 93.6 and Baja California Sur, home to popular tourist area Los Cabos, had a rate of 69.1, according to AP.

The spectacular tourist spot of Cancun has also seen a spike in killings.

Located in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, things are so bad here that the murder rate has doubled in the past year with 169 killings in the first half of 2017.

Travel advisories from Australia and the US state that visitors should exercise a high degree of caution when in Mexico the second lowest of four travel advice levels.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) warns of high levels of violent crime and drug-related violence.

Murder, armed robbery, sexual assault and kidnapping are risks, including in popular tourist destinations and beach resorts. Risks increase after dark, the department says.

This is DFAT’s main advice for Australians considering visiting Mexico:

• Pay close attention to your personal security at all times

• Avoid travelling at night outside of major cities, including on major highways

• Avoid changing money at the airport if possible, or change only small amounts to avoid attracting attention

• Use only official taxis from airports. Pre-pay your fare at one of the official taxi company booths located in the arrivals hall at airport terminals

• Use only radio-dispatched taxis or taxis based at designated stands the sitios, especially in Mexico City

• Use only first-class buses

• Using toll or cuota roads may reduce the risk of crime when driving

• Don’t leave your drinks or food unattended, especially in bars or nightclubs

• Don’t accept food, drinks, gum or cigarettes from new acquaintances

• Monitor the media for information about possible new safety or security risks. Avoid trouble spots.



Tourism Observer

MEXICO: 4 Cab Drivers Murdered In San Miguel de Allende

Drug violence may be behind the killing of four taxi drivers in the picturesque central Mexican town of San Miguel de Allende, a popular tourism destination that is home to thousands of American retirees, authorities said Thursday.

Mayor Ricardo Villarreal said that while the investigation into the Wednesday night slayings was continuing, the bloodshed appeared to be a "score settling" within the world of street-level drug sales.

Villarreal said in an interview with Radio Formula that because San Miguel is a tourist destination, it is prone to small-scale drug sales.

Saying the city remains a safe place, he said the four slain taxi drivers were targeted, not the victims of random attacks. He said the drivers apparently were all called to the location on the town's outskirts where they were killed in their cabs.

A statement from the city said two other men were wounded.

Mexico has struggled with increased drug gang violence in some of its most popular tourism spots. Killings and attacks have occurred recently in Cancun, Zihuatanejo and Los Cabos, though the attacks have not targeted tourists.

San Miguel de Allende is a city and municipality located in the far eastern part of the state of Guanajuato in central Mexico. It is part of the macroregion of Bajío. It is 274 km (170 mi) from Mexico City and 97 km (60 mi) from the state capital of Guanajuato.Historically, the town is important as being the birthplace of Ignacio Allende, whose surname was added to the town’s name in 1826, as well as the first municipality declared independent of Spanish rule by the nascent insurgent army during the Mexican War of Independence.

The city has been known by various names since the Spanish founded the settlement. It was called Izcuinapan by the indigenous peoples. The Spanish originally called it San Miguel el Grande and sometimes San Miguel de los Chichimecas. San Miguel refers to the founder of the city, Father Juan de San Miguel.The name of the town was changed in 1826 to San Miguel de Allende in order to honor Ignacio Allende, who was born here.

The surrounding municipality is officially called Allende, both seat and municipality are called San Miguel (de Allende). The municipality has a coat of arms that was designed by a group called Amigos de San Miguel, but it has not been officially recognized.

The layout of the center of the city is mostly a straight grid, which was favored by the Spanish during colonial times. However, due to the terrain, many roads are not straight. There are no parking meters, no traffic signals and no fast food restaurants.These roads are lined with colonial era homes and churches.

With a few exceptions, the architecture is domestic rather than monumental, with well-tended courtyards and rich architectural details.The houses have solid walls against the sidewalks, painted in various colors, many with bougainvillea vines falling down the outside and the occasional iron-grated window. Many of the larger structures have large front doors which used to be used by horses and carriages.

The town is noted for its streetscapes with narrow cobblestone lanes, that rise and fall over the hilly terrain, and occasionally defy colonial attempts to make a straight grid. It is still a small city, and at night, many wander the narrow streets with relative safety.The people on the streets are a mix of Mexicans, foreigners and indigenous. Its cultural and artistic reputation has brought many people from Mexico and abroad here to live. Several publications have named it one of the top 10 places to retire.

About half of the colonial buildings have been partially or fully converted into businesses such as stores, restaurants, galleries, workshops and hotels. Since there is no zoning, residential and commercial establishments are well-mixed. Although it is small and rural, it has a wide variety of upscale and ethnic restaurants, specialty shops and art galleries. All around the historic center there are over 80 bars and cantinas as well as various nightclubs. To compete, many offer two-for-one drink specials.Others rely on gimmicks such as the frontier themed bar on Mesones Street called “El Gato” with swinging cantina doors like those seen on “Old West” movies.

Despite being less than five percent of the total municipal population, foreign residents have considerable cultural and economic impact. Most foreign residents are retirees from the United States, Canada and Europe attracted by the mild climate, cultural opportunities and low crime. It is only a ten-hour drive to the U.S. border.Many of the home buyers are from this segment of the population as well. Estimates of foreign residents range from 5,000 to 8,000 with at least half of these from the United States.

Outside of the main town and in these smaller communities are the municipality's indigenous groups, mostly Otomi and Nahuas. The Otomi are the largest group, accounting for just under 38% of the municipal population. The Nahuas follow at about 20%. Other groups include the Mazahua, Huasteca and Purépecha. However, according to the 2005 Census, only 355 people speak an indigenous language.

Due to its growth as a tourist destination, some of the most obvious culture seen on the streets of the town relates to visitors, both foreign and Mexican. To cater to these visitors, the town contains organic cafes, boutiques, art galleries, upscale restaurants and hotels, and a wide variety of bars and nightclubs.Bars and nightclubs range from DJs or loud bands catering to young people, to jazz clubs, sports bars and even those that specialize in traditional Mexican music such as mariachi.

Some were founded by foreigners and reflect that ownership, for example the Berlin Bar & Bistro.Shops around the Jardin Principal sell art, handcrafts, furniture and decorative items. The Fabrica La Aurora is an old textile mill that has been converted into galleries and shops selling art, furnishings and antiques; it has a lot of open space along with a café and restaurant.

Many of the festivals here are purely Mexican, combining social activity with religious expression. Throughout the year there are pilgrimages, all-night vigils, ringing church bells, processions and fireworks. The largest celebration of the year is that of the town's patron saint, the Archangel Michael. The angel's feast day is 29 September, but festivities take place for an entire week. Activities include private parties, sporting events, cultural events, indigenous dance and more.

The week is popularly called the Fiestas de San Miguel de Allende. An event, now discontinued for safety concerns, was the "Sanmiguelada", a running of the bulls event similar to that in Pamplona.Youths fill the streets showing off their "matador" talents in front of the bulls.The finale is a parade through the street in honor of Michael and a fireworks "castle" competition to see who can build the most elaborate frame from which fireworks are lit.

Holy Week begins with a exhibition of altars dedicated to the Virgin of Sorrows and end with the Procession of Silence.Prior to the Procession of Silence, there is a reenactment of the judgment of Jesus by Pontius Pilate, on one side of the San Miguel Parish. Then the procession begins, which represents the fourteen scenes of the Passion before his crucifixion.

Many of the townspeople participate in the event, with children dressed as angels and adults in period clothing carrying statues of Jesus. The procession winds its way along the main streets of the historic center completely in silence.Another large religious celebration is the feast of Nuestro Señor de la Columna.

There are also secular, cultural festivals during the year. The annual Festival de Música de Cámara or Chamber Music Festival occurs each year in August in the city's historic center. One of the purposes of the event is to bring this type of music to streets and other public venues as well as traditional concert halls such as the event's home of the Angela Peralta Theater.

The 2009 edition had over 100 singers invited to various events, three major conferences, and instrument exhibition and ten classes taught by prominent persons in the field. Some of the groups invited that year included Yale Glee Club, the Cuerdas Amernet Cuartet, the Alientos de Bellas Artes Trio, soprano Guadalupe Jimenez and pianist Natasha Tarasova .

San Miguel de Allende has long had a reputation as a haven for visual artists. Since the 1950s, when Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros worked there, it has attracted professional and amateur painters, sculptors and printmakers to the classes and workshops frequently held.

In addition to two major art institutions (Instituto Allende and Bellas Artes), artists and art venues can be seen in various parts of the town. One notable art gallery is the Galería Manuel Chacon, which carries contemporary art.On the streets, it is not unusual to see someone sketching people on the street or selling their own work.

Much of the municipality's economy is now tied to the influx of tourists and foreigners who come to live, mostly retirees. In 2002, 250,000 visitors spent about 8.4 million USD at the town's attractions, but those who live here contribute far more to the economy.Most of this is concentrated in the town of San Miguel proper.

Hotel occupancy typically reaches 80% on weekends with about 50% occupancy on weekdays, when rates can be about half. Most visitors are vacationers and about 60% are domestic visitors, interested in the town's history and role in the Mexican War of Independence. Another attraction for visitors are the two main art/cultural institutions of Instituto Allende and Bellas Artes as well as a number of Spanish language schools.

Most domestic visitors come from Mexico's large urban centers like Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey and Queretaro. This growth has spurred the development of newer hotels, resort and vacation home developments, especially on the corridor between San Miguel and Atotonilco.There are 149 hotels, nine of which are 5-star. The town has just over 9% of all hotel rooms in the state, and this percentage is growing. Another important sector is restaurants.

In 2006, the town invested 800,000 pesos to implement an online marketing plan to increase services to potential tourists. The town now has presence on Facebook and Twitter.

Outside of the town of San Miguel, the economy is more traditional. A bit over half of the land is used for grazing with 37% used for crops. Over 80% of the crops are grown during the rainy season with less than 20% grown on irrigated lands. Forestry is minimal. Agriculture produces 25% of the employment in the municipality. Principal crops include corn, beans, wheat, and alfalfa, which account for 84% of harvests.

Another important agricultural activity is fruit orchards. The most important livestock is domestic fowl, especially poultry. The municipality raises over 12% of the state's chickens. Another important product is honey, of which the municipality provides 7.5% of the state’s total.

MEXICO: Record Number Of Foreign Tourist Visit Mexico

Mexico edged out Turkey last year to become the eighth most popular tourist destination in the world.

The record run has continued for the first quarter of 2017, according to the latest figures.

Some 9.3 million visitors bringing in $5 billion (4.6 billion euros) in revenue to Mexico have been recorded for the first three months of 2017.

"Tourism in our country is enjoying one of its best moments in history," said Gerardo Corona, of the federal Tourism Secretariat, Sectur, on Thursday. "Never has there been such a first quarter for the arrival of tourists at this level and in terms of revenue."

Last year saw a total of 35 million visitors to Mexico, an increase of 9 percent over the previous year, bringing in $19.6 billion in revenue, according to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

That result brought Mexico close to world-ranked seventh place United Kingdom which had just 600,000 more visitors than Mexico in 2016.

"The New York Times" named Mexico City as the number one place to go in 2016 and "Conde Nast Traveler" named San Miguel de Allende the fifth best city in the world.

Corona credited the growth in tourism in Mexico to the government's policies in coordination with the state and city authorities and tourism operators to make Mexico "one of the world's major destinations."

Best performing markets were the Riviera Maya, Cancun, Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit.

The federal Tourism Secretariat said it provided travellers with activities and attractions that encouraged them to extend their stay and generate more revenue as a result.

Most visitors to Mexico come from the US, followed by Canada, the UK, Argentina, Colombia, Spain, Brasil, Germany and France.

The number of visitors from the US increased by 12 percent last year over 2015, according to the UNWTO.

Sectur has expressed confidence that tourism revenues will overtake remittances from Mexicans working abroad in about three years' time.

In 2013, Mexico had fallen to 15th place in the world tourism list due to problems with security, most particularly with gang and street crime.

US President Donald Trump made a number of derogatory remarks about Mexico and Mexicans during his winning run to the White House last year.

Trump made a particular point of planning to build a border wall to separate the US from its southern neighbor.

Spring break planning: How to save time and money

The U.S. State Department is warning college students across the country not to spend spring break in certain parts of Mexico, where rampant crime has made travel dangerous for Americans.

The warning comes as students are finishing up midterm exams and heading out in search of warmer climes, salty margaritas and wild parties.

But Mexico, once among the most popular spring break destinations, is plagued with endemic levels of violence, according to the government.

“U.S. citizens have been the victims of violent crimes, including homicide, kidnapping, carjacking and robbery in various Mexican States," the State department travel warning stated.

The warning, which replaces one issued last April, specifically cautions travelers of the dangers in 14 of Mexico’s 31 states, including the popular spring break destinations of Baja California Sur, Guerrero and Nayarit.

“The state of Guerrero was the most violent state in Mexico in 2015 for the third year in a row, and self-defense groups operate independently of the government in many areas of Guerrero,” the warning says of the state that is home to the popular beachside city of Acapulco.

Armed members of these groups frequently maintain roadblocks and, although not considered hostile to foreigners or tourists, are suspicious of outsiders and should be considered volatile and unpredictable.

Acapulco has taken over from the northern border city of Ciudad Juárez to become one of the centers of Mexico's bloody drug war.

The city suffers from being a strategically located drug trafficking hub on Guerrero's Pacific coastal highway, while mass tourism simultaneously provides gangs with a profitable local market for drugs.

MEXICO: Mexico Visitors Increase Inspite Of Travel Warnings

A recent report released by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) revealed that Mexico has surpassed Turkey as the eighth most popular tourist destination in the world.

Mexico welcomed 35 million visitors last year, with a nine percent increase in foreign tourists arriving in the country.

Due to political unrest and security concerns, Turkey welcomed 28.3 million visitors last year.

Mexico had dropped in the UNWTO rankings to 15th in 2013 but has since climbed back to ninth due to improved security and a steadily recovering tourism industry in certain regions.

The country finished eighth for last year, with only 600,000 fewer visitors than the seventh-place United Kingdom.

Tourism revenue was also up in Mexico, climbing to $19.6 billion.

Tourism officials in Mexico believe the country will enter the top five in the UNWTO rankings soon due to the 50 percent increase in visitor numbers since 2012. Mexico’s Tourism Secretariat also said the nation is working to provide more activities and attractions to entice travelers to stay longer when visiting.

Despite remaining concerns about crime in certain areas of the country, a recent survey of travel agents saw business to the country increase, including 45 percent who reported an increase in Mexican vacation sales by more than five percent.

In terms of specific markets that have performed the best over the last year, the Riviera Maya, Cancun, Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit were all considered the most desirable destinations in Mexico.

The summer vacation season is almost upon us, and Visit Mexico is looking to entice American families to enjoy the warm nature of the country.

To help convince people that spending time in Mexico is a great vacation plan, the nation’s tourism bureau points out the country was named No. 1 in the world for Family Travel. Puerto Vallarta also ranked as the No. 2 destination in the world for LGBTQ travel at the prestigious Travvy Awards.

What's more International Living named Mexico as the No. 1 retirement destination in 2017.

In addition, Mexico was ranked as the friendliest and most welcoming country in the world during a recent survey of expatriates. National Geographic went on to name Baja California as one of its top places to visit in 2017.

Travel + Leisure also had glowing things to say about Mexico, naming San Miguel de Allende as the fourth friendliest city in the world and highlighting five Mexican destinations in its Top 10 Best Cities in Latin America rankings, including Oaxaca, Mexico City, Merida, San Miguel de Allende and Guadalajara.

A recent report released by the World Tourism Organization revealed that Mexico has surpassed Turkey as the eighth most popular tourist destination in the world, welcoming 35 million visitors last year.

While much of the news surrounding Mexico has been positive, the United States Department issued a travel warning ahead of the December holidays, urging American tourists to exercise caution and be vigilant in some parts of the country due to the “activities of criminal organizations.”

Hatching a new destination brand is never easy; taking a fallen icon into a new era is even harder.

The world is strewn with vacation spots where the lights don’t shine so brightly. Flights stop landing and decay overtakes debut. Destinations have lifespans, from Honolulu to Havana, Las Vegas to the Costa Brava. Some pivot to stay relevant but many don’t; it’s part of an inevitable fall from grace to the place “no one goes anymore.”

Creating a destination identity where there was none comes with risk.

Two of Mexico’s most successful beach brands illustrate the challenges. First came Quintana Roo’s Riviera Maya, followed some years later by the Pacific’s Riviera Nayarit. Today vacation mainstays, many may not remember the fact these regions stumbled out the gate. Playa del Carmen, Xel-Há and Tulum remained day trip backwaters 20 years after Cancun’s rise in the 70’s. In the shadow of Puerto Vallarta, Nuevo Vallarta sat nearly abandoned through the 1980’s and 90’s.

Today it’s hard to imagine these “Rivieras” will ever be on the has-been list of places no one goes anymore, but a destination’s destiny and decline can be two sides of the same golden coin.

That’s exactly what happened to the place that literally invented the mass market vacation: Acapulco. Like its famous cliff divers, Acapulco’s drop from stardom was spectacular. The place that invented the swim-up bar went stale and American travelers started looking to Baja and the Mexican Caribbean.

Since its 1970’s decline, pronouncements of an Acapulco “rebirth” and “comeback” have been more hype than reality. International nonstop air service nearly vanished (there is but one daily arrival). Last week, Mexico’s tourism showcase (Tianguis Turístico) rolled back into an over-the-hill Acapulco. Trade press reported how suppliers, buyers and agents decided to pass on this year’s event. By doing this, they missed experiencing what will become Mexico’s third Riviera: the newly coined Riviera Diamante.

While some development has been here for decades, the branding is new. Adopting the name Riviera Diamante was a brilliant stroke. While Diamante is really a mini Riviera compared to its bigger sisters, the name leverages Mexico’s other Riviera success and gives travel agents and travelers a fresh-faced Pacific Mexico option.

Mexico’s newest Riviera starts south of Acapulco Bay at Puerto Marques and continues for miles along a palm grove shoreline toward the Acapulco airport. Puerto Marques retains its rustic simplicity of beach palapas, roaming vendors and grilled fish-on-a-stick. But it’s also home to four luxury resorts: Quinta Real, Banyan Tree, Camino Real and El Encanto. Beyond these luxury leaders, you can now zoom at 70 miles an hour over the Pacific on Xtasea, the world’s longest (1.8 kms) overwater zip line adventure.

The Riviera Diamante continues as a beachfront corridor of hotels, condos, private residence, shopping and golf. Mexican developers Grupo Mundo Imperial, Grupo Vidanta and Grupo Posadas are the Riviera Diamante’s key players.

Mundo Imperial owns the venerable Acapulco Princess (now the Princess by Mundo Imperial) and renamed its sister Pierre Marques as simply Pierre by Mundo Imperial. Add the flagship Resort Mundo Imperial and guests can now move via shuttle across three spectacular hotels, Mexico’s most modern conference facility (Expo Mundo Imperial) and concert venue (Forum Mundo Imperial). The master plans call for retirement communities, a hospital and assisted living care. Add the Princess/Pierre golf courses (36 holes) a world-class tennis tournament venue and the bustling La Isla shopping/dining complex and airport proximity.

The other big player is Grupo Vidanta. Its four hotels under the brands Grand Mayan, Mayan Palace, Sea Garden, stretch along Costera de la Palmas and sit adjacent to its Jack Nicklaus Design golf course, an Aqua Park, Lazy River and over 16 restaurants and bars. Mexico’s hotel leader Grupo Posadas is building a Grand Fiesta Americana Diamante and luxury condo towers can’t go up fast enough.

Is there room in Mexico’s eclectic resort portfolio for yet another Riviera? Will travelers embrace a return to Mexico’s original beach vacation playground? The Riviera Diamante is a self-contained luxury complex that’s betting it can lure airlines to return, really the only missing piece for this newest Mexican Riviera.

During a conference on how digital technology is changing the face of tourism, Mexico Tourism Board CEO, Lourdes Berho unveiled the new platform for the visitmexico.com. The site received a complete overhaul that not only includes a new look but a back-end system that can identify user preferences according to how they share on social media, using Big Data to adjust the offerings to what users are looking for.

During the presentation, Jorge Ruiz, Director of Facebook Mexico, also pointed to the importance for destinations and tourism providers to be a part of the digital ecosystem.

Taking a green cue from the UN’s declaration of 2017 as the "International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development", the event organizers took a series of actions making this the very first Tianguis to be carbon neutral.

Among the initiatives was the selection of the Silver EarthCheck-certified Expo Mundo Imperial Acapulco Diamante as host for the event; offering the event program and other information online and via their app to save paper; exhorting exhibitors to choose technology over paper, adequately disposing of their trash and more.

The event also generated a new tagline for the Mexico Tourism Board’s promotional efforts, inspired by the words of UN World Tourism Organization General Secretary Taleb Rifai, a special guest of President Enrique Peña Nieto during the inaugural ceremonies.

An avid admirer of Mexico, whose comments regarding the concept of open borders during the World Trade Market in London have been heard by millions thanks to social media, Rifai referred to Mexico as “a world unto itself.” That description resonated with Lourdes Behro, who presented it as the official tagline during her closing speech. Mr. Rifai was also named Honorary Ambassador for Life of the Mundo Maya.

On the final night of the event, Acapulco authorities “passed the baton” to those representing Mazatlan, the chosen destination for the 2018 Tourism Tianguis.

Mazatlan is already preparing to become the focus of the tourism industry next year. In an interview with Edna Yadira Gutierrez, (Director of Tourism Promotion for the state of Sinaloa), Jose Alberto Ureña Trujillo (CEO of the Mazatlan International Center) and Silvestre Carvajal (Sales Director for Don Pelayo and Royal Villas) indicated large infrastructure investments are already underway.

This includes a sort of rebirth for the destination, sparked by new connectivity that includes additional flights from Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas and Minnesota, along with five new hotels (Holiday Inn, Marriott, and Sleep Inn, among others) added to the already strong offering of 6,000 four- and five-star accommodations ready to welcome attendees, exhibitors and buyers next year.

“During the year, we will also be working to ensure our service providers are prepared as well, offering workshops and training to everyone from housekeeping staff to the transportation, public, urban and tourism services and restaurants,” commented Ms. Gutierrez.

“It’s not just because Tianguis is coming,” mentioned Mr. Carvajal.

“We’ve been hard at work since our occupancy dropped a few years ago and we had to strategize. Part of the plan was the Convention Center, training sessions for providers and attracting recognizable brands to the destination. In the past, 90% of the hotels were domestic, operated by their owners. Today it’s still at 80%, and that’s a peculiarity of Mazatlan. It’s one of our greatest attractions, as it makes our guests more like family and gives us a high rate of return clients.

"It’s a very local, very accessible destination, where locals, as well as tourists, frequent the restaurants and attractions, giving our guests a unique experience where they’re not segregated into a ‘tourist zone.’”

This year’s event showed notable growth over 2016 (final numbers are still being tallied):

10,000 attendees – +6%

44,312 business meetings – +35%

1,608 Buyers – +29%

973 tourism companies – +37%

38 conferences

88 countries participating – 9 more than 2016

3 honored guest invitees: Houston, Pacific Alliance and Canada

#TianguisTuristico hashtag was Trending Topic in Mexico for 14 hours and 1.5 hours on a global level, all positive comments

Improved connectivity of five states in the Mundo Maya plus Oaxaca and Guerrero to enhance the new Maya World Tourism project

MEXICO: Trump Trademarks For His Hotels And Tourism Allowed By Mexico

Last year, at a campaign rally in North Charleston, South Carolina, then-candidate Donald Trump gave a stump speech in which he railed against American jobs moving to Mexico: “We lose our jobs, we close our factories, Mexico gets all of the work,” he said.

“We get nothing.” That same day a law firm in Mexico City quietly filed on behalf of his company for trademarks on his name that would authorise the Trump brand, should it choose, to set up shop in a country with which he has sparred over trade, migration and the planned border wall.

The Trump trademarks have now been granted by the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property, or IMPI for its initials in Spanish.

Records show the last three were approved February 21, just over a month after Trump took office, and a fourth was granted last October 6, about a month before the U.S. election.

Trump’s company has notched several trademark wins recently.

The Chinese government recently granted preliminary approval for 38 trademarks to Trump and a related company.

That sparked outrage from some Democratic senators and critics, who have been pushing Trump to sever financial ties with his global businesses to avoid potential violations of the emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution, which bars federal officials from accepting anything of value from foreign governments unless approved by Congress.

The Mexican trademarks cover a broad range of business operations that can roughly be broken down into construction; construction materials; hotels, hospitality and tourism; and real estate, financial services and insurance. They are all valid through 2026.

The same four trademarks were previously held in the name of Donald J. Trump and expired in 2015, a year before the new applications. The new approvals list the trademark owner as the company DTTM Operations LLC, with an address in the Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York.

As president Trump has handed management of his business to his two adult sons and vowed to strike no new deals abroad while he is in office. However critics say questions remain about possible conflicts of interest, noting that foreigners could still seek to influence Trump by helping his existing foreign operations or by easing the way for future ones after he leaves the Oval Office.

Trump Organization General Counsel Alan Garten said the Mexican government’s decision was not a special favour to the president.

“We’re not being granted anything we didn’t have before,” he said. The original trademarks came “years before (Trump) even announced his candidacy.”

Garten said the Mexican trademarks originally had two purposes: laying the ground for possible new ventures and keeping other people from using Trump’s name for their own businesses.

He said the trademarks are wholly defensive now. “Circumstances have changed,” Garten said. “He’s been elected and we agreed not to do foreign deals.”

Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics lawyer under George W. Bush, said the Mexican grants are in an ethical “grey” area: defensive in nature now, perhaps, but setting the president up to profit when he leaves office.

“To what extent is this appropriate? I don’t know,” Painter said. “We never had Obama running around the world locking up his name, or Bush.”

Intellectual property lawyer Enrique Alberto Diaz Mucharraz is listed on the trademark filings. A junior partner at the Mexico City law firm Goodrich Riquelme y Asociados, he declined to comment citing client confidentiality rules.

Phones rang unanswered at the public relations office of IMPI, and there was no response to an emailed request for comment on a list of questions.

Trademarks can prove enormously valuable to companies, especially in countries with a growing number of middle class consumers who recognise the brand, said Ashwinpaul C. Sondhi of A.C. Sondhi & Associates, an investment consultancy in Safety Harbor, Florida.

Mexican political analyst Alejandro Hope said IMPI is generally considered to be apolitical and the trademark concession was most likely a technical decision. More remarkable, Hope said, was that the application was filed during a heated campaign when “he had already started using Mexico as a pinata” for political purposes.

“What I find striking is that these guys were thinking about doing business in Mexico while they were trashing Mexico on the campaign trail,” Hope added. Trump has a spotty business past in the country.

Last decade he and his children aggressively promoted a luxury hotel and condo development with the Trump name on it that was planned for the northern Baja California coast, near Tijuana. In December 2006, 188 units were sold for $122 million during an event at a hotel in San Diego.

But the Trump Ocean Resort Baja Mexico project collapsed, and dozens of buyers who had lost their 30 per cent deposits sued in March 2009.

Trump settled out of court in November 2013 for an undisclosed sum; in a separate settlement the previous year, developer Irongate, which had licensed the Trump name, agreed to pay the buyers $7.25 million.

On the Caribbean island of Cozumel, near Cancun, Trump tried in 2007 to purchase land for a luxury resort complete with an airstrip and golf course, according to Mexican media reports. It met with local and environmental opposition, and never went anywhere.

In all, Trump controls at least 20 trademarks in Mexico, including for Trump Ocean Resort and Trump Isla Cozumel. Others cover activities such as concierge and spa services, alcoholic beverages, golf club operations and home furnishings.

For clothing, there’s the Donald J. Trump Signature Collection. If there are plans to take the Trump brand to Mexico, it could be tough going due to widespread popular anger toward the president for his comments disparaging Mexican immigrants who come to the United States illegally, his threats to tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement and his vows to make Mexico pay for the border wall.

Hope said that if a Trump hotel were in the cards, its prospects could depend a lot on location.

“In Mexico City, I guess they would face a lot of political backlash at this point,” Hope said. Maybe it would fly in more politically insulated areas, like the beach resorts of Cancun or Los Cabos. “But even that would be a hard sell.”

MEXICO: Tourist Spots Not Affected By Looting And Unrest

Protests over a sharp gasoline price hike erupted into looting of gas stations and stores in various parts of Mexico on Wednesday, with dozens of businesses reportedly sacked.

Protesters also continued to block highways, burn tires and seize gas stations, snarling traffic and jeopardizing fuel supplies across the country.

Major tourist areas like Cancun, Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta have been spared major unrest, though Mexico City and surrounding area is being affected, which can be a transit hub for tourists heading to the beach.

The unrest “resulting in the theft of merchandise put at risk the lives of clients and workers in the stores, primarily in Mexico State, Michoacan, Hidalgo and Mexico City,” the statement said.

In the Gulf coast city of Veracruz, 50 establishments including convenience stores, supermarkets and big-box outlets suffered looting, according to a preliminary count by the local chamber of commerce.

Store guards were overrun by crowds who carried off clothing, food, washing machines, televisions, DVD players and refrigerators.

Extra police patrols were deployed, and at least 14 people were detained, the state government reported. At one supermarket officers fired into the air to disperse the multitudes.

Earlier in the day, President Enrique Pena Nieto took to the airwaves to defend his unpopular gasoline deregulation measure that resulted in price hikes of up to 20 per cent over the weekend.

The increases took effect as the government ends regulated prices for gasoline and diesel, which it says represented subsidies that unduly benefited wealthier Mexicans.

The state-owned oil company Pemex said Tuesday that blockades of fuel terminals in the states of Chihuahua, Morelos and Durango had caused a “critical situation” in distributing fuel to gas stations there.

It said that if the blockades continued, it could interrupt operations at airports in Chihuahua and Baja California.

Ritz-Carlton's Latest European Venture Revealed

Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company has opened a new hotel in Europe, with the launch a 200-room hotel in Budapest.

The hotel in the Hungarian capital is owned by UAE-based Al Habtoor Group and was previously a Le Meridien-managed hotel but will now operate under the Ritz-Carlton flag following a significant refurbishment.

The hotel is in a protected historic building, constructed in 1914 as the headquarters for an Italian insurance company, and many of the period features have been retained such as elegant statues on the exterior walls and the stunning stained-glass cupola at the heart of the building. Beneath this, The Kupola Lounge restaurant has been created, offering farmer’s market breakfast or lunch.

The hotel also has a street-side casual restaurant, Deak Street Kitchen, by British firm B3 Designers, complete with ice-cream cart and an outside terrace on Fashion Street.

Located on Elizabeth Square, with views over St Stephens Basilica, the hotel also has a bar with street entrance to attract the local market.

“Budapest is an extraordinary city and perfectly placed to welcome the newest property in our portfolio,” said Herve Humler, president and chief operations officer, The Ritz-Carlton. “We are excited to become an integral part of the thriving, vibrant city.”

Of the 200 rooms, 30 are suites and the hotel also has a Ritz-Carlton Club Level offering on the top levels - 8th and 9th floors – and a spa and fitness centre with indoor pool and three treatment rooms, will follow soon.

Ritz-Carlton Budapest joins sister European properties such as Abama in Tenerife, Hotel Arts in Barcelona and Ritz-Carlton Vienna, as well as the group’s concept hotel in Wolfsburg within the famed Autostadt and home to a three-Michelin-starred restaurant.

The group is also working on a property in Geneva, Hotel De la Paix, likely to be completed next year.

Also coming soon are hotels in Langkawi, Los Cabos, Koh Samui, Bermuda and Turks & Caicos.

MEXICO: New Houston-Mexico links with Southwest

Links between Houston, Texas, and Mexico grew stronger this week with new non-stop flights launched by Southwest Airlines. Non-stop flights to Mexico City, Cancún, Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabo.

The low-cost U.S. airline began offering daily flights to Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta and Mexico City, and twice-daily into Cancún.

Southwest used the Cancún flight to inaugurate its new US $146-million, five-gate terminal at Hobby Airport, which opened on Thursday. The new facility, under construction since September 2013, makes Houston one of only three American municipalities with two international airports within its boundaries.

With its Mexico City connection, the company hopes to transport 4,000 passengers a month between Houston and the Mexican capital.