Mexico's Mystifying Tourism Move Leaves Competitors Ready to Pounce

The question has bounced through the travel industry for months now: What is Mexico doing? News that the new administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador planned to disband the Mexico Tourism Board, shift promotional duties to embassies, and redirect money to build a train that visits some popular tourist areas has been out since late last year. “Everybody’s got their eye on it," said Bill Geist, CEO of DMOproz, a consulting firm in Wisconsin that caters to destination marketing organizations. "It’s one thing to cut a budget, but to eliminate it is just…it’s a head scratcher." There have been few details about what will happen moving forward, even as international offices shutter and continued security concerns make the need for a cohesive communications strategy more acute. Tour operators and hoteliers in Mexico are fearing for future business, especially as they see a leveling off or decline in bookings this year, and planning ways to take their own action. Foreign visitors spent an estimated $22.5 billion last year in the country. In the meantime, other warm-weather destinations and tourism insiders are watching to see if the a rollback in marketing dollars will equal increases elsewhere. “I think it’s terrible,” said Alex Zozaya, CEO of travel, hospitality, and leisure management company Apple Leisure Group. “One thing is to fix what is not working, but leave alone what is working and improve what is working. Because there are some things with the [board] that are not working, let’s shut it down? That’s a big mistake.” Mexico's Strategy Secretary of Tourism Miguel Torruco Marqués revealed the plan in December, following through on the president's platform that promised social change. The money that funded the board— it's not clear how much — is supposed to be moved to an infrastructure project to build what is known as the Mayan Train. The government also revealed additional priorities late last month, including spreading tourism around the country by encouraging development off more regional attractions; increasing domestic tourism; drawing more high-income visitors from markets including the United States, India, United Arab Emirates, China, Korea, and Russia; and boosting the number of Mexican-American visitors on heritage trips. Notably, the government's statement said, some of those programs will move forward with marketing support from the country's consulates and embassies. Most of