Arizona - New Mexico Tourism

art_raiders asked:


Ariz. losing ritzy tourists from Mexico

Chris Hawley
Republic Mexico City Bureau
Oct. 25, 2006 12:00 AM

MEXICO CITY - The Ciclope Travel Agency sits in the middle of Polanco, one of Mexico City’s toniest neighborhoods. There’s a Prada clothing store two blocks down the street, and a Rolls Royce dealership just beyond that.

People who live here would be perfectly at home golfing in Scottsdale or unwinding at a spa in Sedona. But few ever do.

“Nobody wants to go to Arizona, except to change planes on their way to Las Vegas,” said Adina Gutiérrez, a travel agent at Ciclope.

The number of Mexican tourists flying in to Arizona, the highly desirable “traditional” tourists as opposed to shoppers from Sonora, has dropped from 82,000 in 2002 to 42,000 in 2005. The number of tour operators offering Arizona packages has plummeted from 37 to 18 in the same period, according to the Office of Tourism.

Even the number of day-trippers, Mexicans who cross the
Arizona border to shop or dine, has dropped 19 percent since 2002. The 2005 figure of 20.8 million crossings was the lowest in at least a decade, and 2006 is looking even worse, said Alberta Charney, an economist at the University of Arizona.

It’s still unclear if the decline has hurt Arizona businesses, since the amount of money spent by each traveler may have increased, Charney said. In 2001, she conducted a survey that showed cross-border visitors spent $962.9 million in the state.

But the drop in fly-in tourists is a setback because each one spends 14 times more money in Arizona than the day-trippers, and because the Arizona Office of Tourism spends $412,000 a year trying to attract them. The money goes toward advertising, seminars for Mexican travel agents, junkets for Mexican journalists, and running a small office in Polanco.

Sky Harbor Airport spends another $150,000 trying to encourage airlines and travelers to fly into Phoenix.

The decline in tourists has come
has come even as Arizona’s immigrant population is booming.

Tourism officials blame the decline on a lack of direct flights, along with media coverage of the efforts to fortify the Arizona border. Many Mexicans now equate Arizona with border deaths, fences, National Guard deployments and groups like the Minutemen, who are known in the Mexico press as “migrant hunters.”

“Arizona has had its fair share of unfavorable press because of some of the things that are happening along our border,” said Margie Zimmerman, director of the Office of Tourism.

Another problem is a lack of air service. US Airways has only one direct flight between its Phoenix hub and Mexico City, the wealthiest part of the country. It has no flights connecting the affluent northern city of Monterrey.

Tourism officials are hoping interest in Arizona will rise now that Aeromexico is offering Mexico City-Phoenix flights. They began on Oct. 6.

But travel agents are doubtful. Most Mexicans use travel
packages, and the wholesalers who assemble those deals concentrate on places like Chicago, New York, Florida and Las Vegas.

In a recent copy of Expo-Mayoristas, a biweekly catalog of packages consulted by Mexican travel agents, not a single wholesaler was offering an Arizona package.

“Arizona has these breakfasts where they invite travel agents to learn about their state, but it’s an absurd waste of money because if you don’t have packages at a good price, people won’t buy them,” said Eugenia Vadillo, an agent at El Corte Inglés Travel in Polanco.

JellyBean asked:


Instead of the U.S spending millions (if not Billions soon) on welfare, housing, medical, etc for ILLEGAL immigrants, wouldn’t it make more sense to give Mexico this money to help them re-form their country. Isn’t that why they are running across the border because life is “Supposedly” better here? Work on building business, schools, tourism etc in Mexico, so they can become more self sufficient. I work with a woman from Mexico, she’s always going on about how she doesn’t want to live in CA anymore, How mexico beaches are nicer, and how they had a nice home in a nice area, she says it’s not the slums CNN would have you think. Wouldn’t they go back if their country was in better shape????
I agree with “constructive” criticism. I DO believe immigrants have a right to a better life. But wouldn’t they prefer to have it in their Home Country?? All I am saying is, instead of spending millions fighting them, why not spend that money helping them stay in their home country, in the long run, we will save money and American Culture too.
To Nuttybrunett- Your name fits you PERFECTLY.

Ms Lexa asked:


State Mottos
Alabama: Hell Yes, We Have Electricity/
Alaska: 11,623 Eskimos Can’t Be Wrong!/
Arizona: But It’s A Dry Heat/
Arkansas: Literacy Ain’t Everything/
California: By 30, Our Women Have More Plastic Than Your Honda/
Colorado: If You Don’t Ski, Don’t Bother/
Connecticut: Like Massachusetts, Only The Kennedy’s Don’t Own It-Yet/
Delaware: We Really Do Like The Chemicals In Our Water/
Florida: Ask Us About Our Grandkids/
Georgia: We Put The “Fun” In Fundamentalist Extremism/
Hawaii: Haka Tiki Mou Sha’ami Leeki Toru (Death To Mainland Scum, But Leave
Your Money)/
Idaho: More Than Just Potatoes…Well Okay, We’re Not, But The Potatoes Sure Are Real Good/
Illinois: Please Don’t Pronounce the “S”/
Indiana: 2 Billion Years Tidal Wave Free/
Iowa: We Do Amazing Things With Corn/
Kansas: First Of The Rectangle States/
Kentucky: Five Million People; Fifteen Last Names/
Louisiana: We’re Not ALL Drunk Cajun Wackos, But That’s/
Our Tourism Campaign

SQL_DBA_Needs_Legal_Help_ASAP asked:


Ever heard of the Piper PA46-310? If this type of plane were being used to go fly from Georgia and Florida to Mexico, Brazil and South and Central Americas? What would be the most likely use of the plane? Tourism, Vacation, flying lessons, Drugs, Illegal Alien Transport, other reasons.. please list. What do you think?

Frank asked:


I heard on the news while driving home from work that 50% of Canadians are now willing to boycott tourism to Mexico or anything that supports Mexico.

Why do Canadians dislike Mexico now?