Mexico’s Tourism Players Are Making Plans Now for More Chinese Travelers

At the St. Regis luxury hotel in downtown Mexico City, Alejandro Botti is busy putting his Mandarin lessons to use.  Guests from China are increasingly checking in, and the front-desk agent is the only employee here who can speak the language. The hotel's management says it might eventually hire a Chinese interpreter to meet the growing need. "You have no choice. You have to be ready," Bernard de Villèle, general manager of St. Regis Mexico City, said in an interview at the hotel. Last year, 60,500 Chinese nationals flew to Mexico, nearly 65 percent more than in 2011, according to the Mexican tourism ministry. That's still a tiny fraction of Mexico's overall airborne visitors—less than one percent—but it signals a rise in Chinese business interests in the country and reflects a major push by Mexican officials to lure Chinese vacationers to its beaches and cities. It also points to the broader boom in Chinese travel.Worldwide, Chinese tourists spen