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The economic forecast in the United States through the beginning of next year calls for severe cloudiness, strong changing winds and threats of storms for those who hold mortgages. In light of this, experts are recommending not leaving home, and this translates to fewer US tourists traveling abroad.
Because of this climate in the United States, the best tourist alternative for Mexico is to increase national tourism and increase advertising in Canada, where tourism shows sustainable growth for Mexico. Data from the Secretary of Tourism (SECTUR) for the first half of 2008 indicate an 18 percent increase of Canadian visitors over the same period last year.
Mexico was found to be the primary tourist destination for Canada, followed by England and France. Puerto Vallarta has benefited from this and is the third most popular destination nationally for Canadians visiting Mexico, after Cancun and the Riviera Maya.
Last year, Mexico welcomed 21.7 million international visitors, including more than one million from Canada. Although the United States is still the main origin of foreign tourism into this country, the number of Canadians arriving here continue to rise and Canadians tend to stay for longer periods.
According to research by the Consejo de Promoción Turística de México (CPTM), the average Canadian visitor to Mexico 50 or older with both the time and the money to travel.
Alfonso Sumano, regional director for Canada at CPTM, recently commented that Canadians, especially those who spend longer periods here during the winter, are better informed visitors and put more extensive research into destinations when planning their trips, than their American counterparts.
Considering the economic difficulties in the United States, Tourism Secretary Rodolfo Elizondo Torres recently toured Canada, where he met with three of the main tourist operators in Toronto, who confirmed that growth looked good for visitors to Mexico for the remainder of the year and into 2009.
-Positive Outlook
Nelson Gentiletti, president of Transat Tours Canada, Daniel Shurz and Zeina Gedeo, vice president and president of Air Canada Vacations, and Stephen Hunter, president of Sunwing Vacations, operators who make up 50 percent of all Canadian tourism to Mexico, also have confirmed that there remains plenty of interest. Air Transat alone has registered 320,000 passengers to Mexico, while Air Canada has registered 105,000. Sunwing Vacations averages 109,000 travelers.
So, the forecast for Canadian tourism calls for clear skies and sunny days, Sectur estimates an increase of Canadian visitors by at least 178,000 during the upcoming year. Welcome! Bienvenue!
Rodrigo López Becerril
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