The Riviera Nayarit Makes its Mark as a Meetings Venue at IBTM Americas
- Mexico’s Pacific Treasure put its many MICE segment attributes on display before top meeting planners from North America, Latin America, and Europe.
The Riviera Nayarit pulled out all the stops to strengthen its footprint in the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) segment, also known as the Meetings and Events Industry, with a high-profile participation in IBTM Americas, which was held September 5-6 in Mexico City’s Centro Citibanamex.
IBTM Americas is a global expo where leaders in the meetings, conventions, corporate events, and incentive travel industries meet with specialized providers from all over the American continent, making it a sort of Tianguis Turístico for the meetings industry.
According to Lucero Guerrero, sales and marketing manager for the Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) and the Bahía de Banderas Hotel and Motel Association (AHMBB), this is without a doubt an event with excellent potential for the destination. Here, sector leaders, professionals, and providers were able to establish new businesses on a domestic and an international level, as well as receive updates on the industry.
She reported the Riviera Nayarit had the opportunity to promote the attributes, infrastructure, and facilities the destination has to offer the MICE segment.
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| Lucero Guerrero, sales and marketing manager for the Riviera Nayarit CVB. |
“It’s important to have a presence in this type of events, which attract the meeting planners with the highest sales potential for the region.”
The Riviera Nayarit, she added, welcomed 15 meeting planners qualified previous to the IBTM; held 30 formal meetings with specialized agents with a recognized career path in the meetings industry plus domestic and foreign wedding planners from Guadalajara, Leon, Monterrey, Mexico City and countries such as the United States, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Uruguay, and Costa Rica.
Currently the Riviera Nayarit offers over 16 thousand rooms and 17,000 m² (183,000 ft²) of meetings space.
“The luxury and meetings segments are among the top revenue-producing segments in the tourism industry and, in both cases, the Riviera Nayarit is one of Mexico’s youngest, trendiest destinations with the highest growth potential,” said Marc Murphy, managing director of the CVB and the AHMBB. “This is why it’s so important to attend these events and attract this segment.”
This first edition of IBTM Americas welcomed 3,400 providers, one thousand buyers, 400 exhibitors, and 45 specialized speakers who offered nine educational sessions where they presented the latest industry trends.
Frosch FAM in the Riviera Nayarit
On September 3rd and 4th—just days before the IBTM Americas—the Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau and Frosch Latin America, an agency with offices in Colombia and IBTM Americas, welcomed 13 potential clients to the destination.
The visitors had the opportunity to see the Riviera Nayarit’s infrastructure for incentive travel, meetings, congresses, and conventions for themselves.
Frosch was established in 1972 with a focus on corporate and luxury travel. Since 1998 the company has grown an average of 30% every year both organically and through strategic acquisitions.
The Facts:
MICE is one of the fastest growing segments in Mexico at 15% annually, according to the 2016-2017 MICE Travel Report.
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The Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) and the Bahía de Banderas Hotel and Motel Association (AHMBB) continue to work together to market the region, strengthening its promotion and helping position Mexico’s Pacific Treasure on the world map with the support of the Government of the State of Nayarit via the Tourism Promotion Trust (Fiprotur).
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