Accompanied by the Consul General of Mexico in Toronto, Porfirio Thierry Muñoz Ledo, Secretary of Tourism Miguel Torruco began the Operation Knocks on Doors tour in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal
The Secretary of Tourism, Miguel Torruco Marqués, began a work tour of Canada as part of the Operación Toca Puertas program, during which he will hold meetings with important leaders of the tourism industry, tour operators and airlines from Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.
Accompanied by tourism authorities from Baja California, Baja California Sur, Nayarit and Yucatán, as well as representatives of business organizations such as the Hotel Association of Cancun, Puerto Morelos and Isla Mujeres; of the National Association of Hotel Chains (ANCH); and from Aeroméxico, Torruco Marqués explained that the purpose of Operation Knocks on Doors is to talk with tour operators from the main countries that send tourists to Mexico.
Another objective is to bring them closer to the State Secretaries of Tourism and tell them about the news in our country, such as the new airport projects, the tourism products that are being promoted, as well as the Magical Towns programs and the invitation to the next Tianguis Turístico, to be held in Mexico City in March 2023.
Torruco Marqués, during a working dinner with more than 80 Canadian investors, hosted by investor Marc Kealy, indicated that this is a great time to invest in Mexico’s tourism sector. During the meeting, Congressman Alejandro Robles stressed that it is an honor to be able to work closely with the Secretary of Tourism, to reach agreements that promote the development of tourism in Mexico.
During the first day of activities in Toronto, Canada, and accompanied by the Consul General of Mexico in Toronto, Porfirio Thierry Muñoz Ledo, the head of the Secretary of Tourism of the Government of Mexico (Sectur) met with Patrick Pollak, general manager of Four Seasons Toronto, with whom he exchanged information on tourist flows of Mexicans to Toronto.
Pollak highlighted that Mexico was an important country for the hotel chain during the pandemic due to the fact that the country was open, which meant that the Four Seasons hotels continued to receive tourists, mainly in destinations such as Punta Mita and Los Cabos. Despite the pandemic, they had good results. “For now we have four hotels, but we have more projects; one will be inaugurated in Punta Mita in December, and we hope that next year the sixth hotel will be inaugurated in Mexico,” he said.
Torruco Marqués reported that Canada is the second country that sends tourists to Mexico. In 2019, 2,310 tourists arrived by air, while from January to July 2022, 945,575 tourists have arrived in Mexico by air, which represents 37% fewer Canadian visitors than in the same period in 2019.
As part of the actions of the Operation Knocks on Doors program in Toronto, the head of Sectur met with Andrew Weir, executive Vice President Destination Development, with whom he shared hard data on the recovery in the number of visitors and in the economy, highlighting the importance of the Canadian market and spoke about the value of increasing and strengthening air connectivity.
“The Mexican market is very important for Canada and each time they come from different regions and not only from Mexico City. The meeting with Secretary Torruco was very important to work together on the strategy that contributes to the growth of tourism between both countries”, Weir commented.
In turn, Jesús Almaguer, president of the Cancun, Puerto Morelos and Isla Mujeres Hotel Association, declared that there is connectivity from 27 Canadian cities to Quintana Roo.
Torruco Marqués led the “This is Mexico” Seminar, which was attended by more than 40 tour operators, in which he explained that our country is a mixture of traditions, cultures, colors and nature. He pointed out that the current administration is working to make tourism a tool for social reconciliation, in which the benefits of this activity permeate the communities and the population of the places with a tourist vocation.
He reiterated that the results in terms of tourism confirm that the policies ordered by the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in the face of the onslaught of the pandemic, were the right ones: thanks to the non-restriction of international flights, the immediate implementation of the protocols biosanitary designed in collaboration between Sectur, Ministry of Health and the private sector, as well as the vaccination strategy.
Torruco Marqués also had a meeting with directors of the Canadian airline WestJet, with the purpose of strengthening connectivity to destinations in Mexico. David Cecco, Director of Product of WestJet Vacations, indicated that “it was a very productive meeting, of understanding what is happening in Mexico and what is to come, we found a good opportunity to promote connectivity because Canadians are definitely in love with Mexico.
For his part, Michele Denise Martinson, regional manager of Aeroméxico, highlighted: “It is a great initiative that the Secretary of Tourism has come and visited these three destinations that are important for Aeroméxico in Canada. The dialogue that has been carried out with travel agents was important to strengthen tourism together”.
During the tour, the Secretary of Tourism was accompanied by the Undersecretary of Tourism, Humberto Hernández Haddad; José de Jesús Quiñonez Ramírez, Undersecretary of Tourism of the Baja California Tourism Secretariat; Cynthia Guadalupe Ontiveros Aguirre, manager of Special Segments of the Tourism Trust of Los Cabos, Baja California Sur; Audrey Jocelin Brizo, representing the Secretary of Tourism of Nayarit; Marystella Pasos, director of Trade Marketing of the Ministry of Tourism Development of Yucatan; as well as by the president of the Hotel Association of Cancun, Puerto Morelos and Isla Mujeres, Jesús Almaguer Salazar; in addition to representatives of the National Association of Hotel Chains (ANCH), of the AMResorts and Grupo Hotelero Santa Fe chains.
Source: Sectur
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