The Riviera Nayarit continues to strengthen its positioning in the European market
- The AHMBB and the CVB formed part of the Mexico Pavilion at the World Travel Market in London, England, from November 4th through 6th.
The participation of the Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) in London’s 40th World Travel Market was a complete success. This event is one of the most important of its kind in the world, this year welcoming five thousand registered exhibitors from 182 countries along with over 52 thousand participants.
From November 4th through the 6th, the Banderas Bay Hotel and Motel Association (AHMBB) and the Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) partnered with the Puerto Vallarta Tourism Trust (Fidetur) to form part of the Mexico Pavilion. There they joined representatives from other tourist destinations in Mexico including Mexico City and the states of Chiapas, Oaxaca, and Puebla, as well as hotel chains and airlines including Aeromexico, among others.
According to data from the Mexico Ministry of Tourism (Sectur), the United Kingdom is the third nation of origin for tourists to Mexico and number one on the European continent. Last year, 590,945 tourists from the region arrived in Mexico by air, an increase of 16.8% from 2015 to 2018.
Important results with TUI UK
During the event, the Riviera Nayarit CVB held numerous meetings with wholesalers, retail agencies, airlines, and OTAs. Among these were business appointments with top European producers such as TUI UK, an important wholesaler that currently generates the most European visitors to the destination via its two direct flights from Manchester. The wholesaler—which owns its own air fleet—confirmed that it will restart the London route in summer 2020 while still maintaining one of its Manchester routes.
TUI Holland, another wholesaler that continues to send a steady number of seats via 25 weekly blocks via Mexico City, also offers hotel packages to the destination. According to numbers from the wholesaler, this market has been a constant producer.
TUI Madrid met for the first time with the CVB in a show of interest for the destination as it currently sells the Riviera Nayarit and wanted to increase its hotel offers to match the growing client interest in the region.
Successful synergy with Aeromexico
Standouts from the scheduled meetings included an encounter with the Aeromexico sales manager based in England, who shared encouraging data indicating the Puerto Vallarta-Riviera Nayarit area is among the top three destinations in Mexico that generate the most seats from London via Mexico City. This signals the need to continue strengthening the relationship with the airline.
The team also met with business partner Expedia, which confirmed an increase in reservations from Europe within markets such as Holland and France to this region.
Besides meetings with wholesalers, the team also set up appointments with local agencies seeking to increase their sales to the Riviera Nayarit. Among these were Virtuoso luxury travel agencies such as Iconic Travel, Leisure and Care, Sunset Travel Limited, Just Boarded, and Family Traveller.
Likewise, the CVB participated in WTM 2019’s Mexico Networking event with over 50 potential travel agents based mainly in the United Kingdom, along with several other destinations and hotels from around Mexico.
INFORMATION:
The World Travel Market is one of the most important tourism industry fairs, along with Madrid’s FITUR. It takes place every year in London, England, with the participation of industry representatives looking to obtain the latest information on tourism offers, as well as roll out products and services while facilitating networking opportunities.
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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 the strategic promotion of the destination, pursuing opportunities, and consolidating new markets to increase the number of incoming tourists with the support of the Government of the State of Nayarit via the Tourism Promotion Trust (Fiprotur).
