Travel Advisors Think Mexico Is Hurting Its Own Tourism Prospects

Mexico’s decision to close down almost all of the Mexico Tourism Board operations and shift marketing funds toward infrastructure development has left travel agency groups and travel advisors who sell the destination scratching their heads. Why would Mexico slash tourism marketing support at a time when advisors are still challenged to convince clients about the safety of traveling there?

While some advisors will miss the training opportunities and marketing support, they also say Mexico has a lot more to lose than they do. There are, after all, plenty of other destinations to sell.

About the burgeoning number of travel advisors working from home, they enjoy greater flexibility than their storefront counterparts, but may also miss the camaraderie. Veteran home-based advisors share their strategies for combatting isolation and staying engaged.

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Any suggestions for the coverage you would like to see are welcome. Feel free to contact me at [email protected].

— Maria Lenhart, Travel Advisor Editor

Featured Stories

Mexico Tourism Board Demise Will Hurt the Destination More Than Travel Advisors: 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.

Home-Based Travel Advisors Use These Tricks for Sanity and Productivity: Running a home-based travel agency is not without its challenges, including isolation, getting motivated, and keeping work and personal life from colliding. Fortunately, there is plenty of support, including from industry peers, to help the process.

The Airline Industry’s Glass Ceiling Is Still Sky-High: Aviation has terrible gender optics, and not just with pilots and engineers. The c-suite is nearly void of women for flimsy, unacceptable reasons. In this deep dive, women on the commercial side of aviation share how it feels to hit the glass ceiling in 2019, and occasionally break through.

Cruising

Norwegian Cruise Boss Zeroes In on Higher Prices: Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings CEO Frank Del Rio has been preaching the gospel of higher prices for years now — and practicing what he preaches. For now, it looks like passengers are willing to keep paying up.

Hotels

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InterContinental Lands Another Luxury Brand: Six Senses looks like a good addition to IHG’s high-end portfolio and should fit in well with the existing luxury brands, without too much overlap.

Accor Rebrands and Launches a New Loyalty Program: Accor’s Sebastien Bazin aims to fix the chain’s rather dismal loyalty program. Sports, dining, and entertainment are key experiences that the new loyalty program will address.

Taj Hotels to Enter Homesharing With New Amã Brand: On March 1, Taj Hotels will start taking bookings for its official foray into homesharing with its new brand, Amã, with nine bungalows. It’s further proof of the Skift Megatrend that in hospitality, “everything is converging.”

Tourism

Florida Sees Tourism Gain Despite Another Decline in Overseas Visitors: Florida’s tourism picture is still setting records, but the persistent drop in overseas visitors is troubling — especially for a warm-weather destination with global appeal.

Smithsonian Explores History of Black Leisure Travel With New Documentary:
The Green Book helped black Americans move about safely during segregation, but it also sparked the growth of black leisure travel and fueled entrepreneurship in the community for years to come.

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Carlson Wagonlit Travel Rebrands to Sound Cooler: Now we’ve got Amex GBT, BCD, and CWT: an alphabet soup worthy of a sector that relies on bromides and buzzwords.

How Avis Wants to Build Transparency in Corporate Travel: Car rental giants are struggling to remain relevant in an age when business travelers have countless ground transportation options at their fingertips.

ATPCO Ups Its Game in the Tools It Uses to Sell Airplane Seats and Services: Fare-filing clearinghouse ATPCO has announced changes in its executive ranks. So we checked in to see how it’s progressing on its modernization effort. The challenges are daunting.

Featured Stories

Skift Travel Advisor Editor Maria Lenhart [[email protected]] curates the Skift Travel Advisor Innovation Report. Skift emails the newsletter every Tuesday. Have a story idea? Or a juicy news tip? Want to share a memo? Send her an email.