The Riviera Nayarit shines during an intense promotional tour through France, Belgium, and Holland
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| The ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Mexico booth at the IFTM Top Resa fair in Paris with special guest Juan Manuel Gómez Robledo, Ambassador to Mexico in France. |
The Riviera Nayarit CVB and Puerto Vallarta’s Fidetur participated in the Paris IFTM Top Resa, one of Europe’s most important tourism fairs. The teams offered training seminars for wholesale agents from Ghent and Utrecht.
The Riviera Nayarit CVB and Puerto Vallarta’s Fidetur participated in the Paris IFTM Top Resa, one of Europe’s most important tourism fairs. The teams offered training seminars for wholesale agents from Ghent and Utrecht.
The Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta went on an intense promotional tour through Paris, France; Ghent, Belgium; and Utrecht, Holland from September 24ththrough October 4th, offering dynamic, updated information about the region to travel agents and wholesalers that sell the region.
Along with participating in the IFTM Top Resa—one of the most important tourism fairs in Europe—representatives from the Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) and the Puerto Vallarta Tourism Trust (Fidetur) offered training seminars to wholesale agents in the cities of Ghent and Utrecht; the team had the support of the office of the Mexico Tourism Board (MTB).
IFTM Top Resa Fair
The first stop on the work tour was the 40th IFTM Top Resa in Paris, held from September 24-28 with 32,000 industry professionals in attendance. This included travel agents and wholesalers, as well as exhibitors from over 100 countries including Africa, America, Asia, and Europe.
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| Presentation of the destination in Utrecht, Holland. |
Both the Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta were stationed in the Mexico booth along with 24 other exhibitors including airlines, hotels, DMCs, and tourism destinations such as Cancun-Riviera Maya, Chiapas, and Puebla. The Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta had contact with travel agents and the general public to promote the region’s tourism offer; they also held business meetings with wholesalers, including Mr. Romaric Bau, a top executive from Alpi Tour and his agency, Bravo Club.
Although air connectivity is not direct, it’s still quite good, as there are three flights between Paris and Mexico City via Aeroméxico and Air France, and between Mexico City and Puerto Vallarta via Aeroméxico, Interjet, Volaris, and Viva Aerobus.
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| Dinner seminar at Ghent, Belgium. |
Seminar in Ghent, Belgium
A dinner seminar was held on October 2nd for 40 travel agents and wholesalers in Belgium, both in Ghent and in Brussels. Most of the attendees work in companies that dedicate themselves to luxury tourism, a very important segment for the Riviera Nayarit. The travel agents were very interested, especially in the areas of Punta de Mita and Nuevo Vallarta; they were also impressed by the natural beauty of the region, its cultural and culinary offer, and its Mexican soul, which differentiates it from other tourism destinations.
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| Minister María Teresa Mercado, representing the Mexico Ambassador in Belgium, the special guest at the event in Ghent, Belgium. |
Present at the meeting: Jesús Catalán, director of the MTB office in Paris; Mark Mooren, Aeromexico representative in the area; and personnel from the Mexican Embassy in Belgium, among them Minister Teresa Mercado in representation of Ambassador Mauricio Escanero Figueroa.
Seminar in Utrecht, Holland
A cocktail seminar held on October 4th welcomed 40 travel agents and wholesalers from Utrecht, The Hague, and Amsterdam. Wholesalers included TUI Nederland, with whom the team met for a business meeting before the event to analyze their sales, as they offer vacation packages to the region thanks to an agreement with Aeroméxico. Of note was the presence of Air Europa, which could be key for future connectivity to this part of Europe.
Jesús Catalán, director of the MTB office in Paris, was present at the meeting; as well as Wieteke Lebbink, Aeroméxico representative in the area; as well as personnel from Holland’s Mexican Embassy in representation of Ambassador Mauricio Escanero Figueroa.
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| Utrecht event with Jesús Catalán, director of the MTB office in France and the Netherlands, and Luis Villaseñor, from Puerto Vallarta’s Fidetur. |
TUI Nederland is bringing in passengers to the Puerto Vallarta-Riviera Nayarit area via the current Aeromexico connection through Mexico City, thus the importance of the training seminars and the public relations and advertising efforts already underway in Holland.
THE FACTS
- According to data from the Paris office of the MTB, over 36,000 Belgians and 60,000 Netherlanders visited Mexico last year; to date there has been an increase of 14% from Belgium and 19% from Holland.
- Curiously, the surface area of Belgium is very similar to that of Nayarit.
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The Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) and the Bahía de Banderas Hotel and Motel Association (AHMBB) reaffirm their commitment to working intensely to attract more and better tourism to Mexico’s Pacific Treasure with the support of the Government of the State of Nayarit via the Tourism Promotion Trust (Fiprotur).
Riviera Nayarit CVB
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