Hi Gang, last Saturday (Mar. 1) was Mexico Ted's third Mexico Expo show to allow those with a business that caters to tourists and property investors
in Mexico to show their stuff.
During the day, various speakers did presentations in a seperate room... The Secretary of Tourism for Baja California Oscar Escobedo and author Graham
Mackintosh where the two presentations I sat in on...
I saw Nomads there, including: Baja Bernie, BajaGeoff, SD Ronnie, fdt, and Doug (Baja Nomad).
Here are a few photos...
Graham Mackintosh and the Secretary of Tourism, Oscar Escobedo:
[Edited on 3-3-2008 by David K]
David K - 3-3-2008 at 09:52 AM
Bonni and Graham Mackintosh, Greg Niemann, and Jennifer Redmond behind the desk at the Sunbelt Publications / Mackintosh books booth
David K - 3-3-2008 at 09:55 AM
Several isles of displays showing Baja and Mainland Mexico based businesses and tourism opportunities...
David K - 3-3-2008 at 09:56 AM
more booths...
David K - 3-3-2008 at 09:59 AM
At the conclusion of his address to the filled room, Mexico Ted presents Oscar Escobedo a bottle of tequila in thanks.
David K - 3-3-2008 at 10:01 AM
Fernando Garcia 'fdt' (UltimateBaja.com) has questions for Oscar Escobedo, the Secretary of Tourism...
David K - 3-3-2008 at 10:02 AM
Michelle and Doug 'Baja Nomad'....
David K - 3-3-2008 at 10:06 AM
Mexico Ted really works hard to put this Expo together and make it such a success!
David K - 3-3-2008 at 10:07 AM
Doug, taking notes during the presentation...
wilderone - 3-3-2008 at 10:19 AM
So did the Secretary of Tourism have anything noteworthy to say?David K - 3-3-2008 at 10:25 AM
After his standard speech, he took questions from the audience. I only heard 'PC' type answers to the crime concern questions... I got one question
in, asking if the Blvd. 2000 highway would ever get connected to the toll highway... he said, 'this year'!
Doug was taking notes, so perhaps he can answer this better...BajaNomad - 3-3-2008 at 11:22 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by wilderone
So did the Secretary of Tourism have anything noteworthy to say?
While some there were indeed taking notes,
I was not one of them.
The photo of me was after the Secretary spoke - when I was writing down a note for someone on the back of one of my business cards.
He, of course, is there to promote travel to the State of Baja California. He spoke of electricity service now reaching to the southern border
(BoLA), of Mexicali having the second largest Chinatown on west coast of North America (or something such), of San Felipe still being a sleepy village
to visit, of the Abalone in San Quintin, and other "food" particulars for Rosarito/Ensenada/Tijuana/etc.
He spoke of Tourist Police not only in Rosarito but in other areas (I'm not remembering where, but that it was in more areas than I had previously
read about), that they would be bilingual. Also of upgrading the patrols of the toll-highway from Tijuana to Ensenada. He actually said they had not
been doing this, or not been doing this well-enough as of late.
He repeated frequently that his background was from the private sector - and how the private sector has historically achieved better results than the
government. He indicated the desire to turn over other airports to the private sector - but I'm not remembering which ones he indicated. He had
spoken of the airports in San Felipe and Ensenada, for example.
When he fielded questions, there were questions about the 078 telephone #, about the Blvd 2000 connection to the toll road (David K), and about safety
perceptions (he had touched on "perceptions" in his address). There were questions about the attention being given to problems south of the border on
KNSD (channel 39; cable 7 in San Diego) and the San Diego Union Tribune.
Keith Rolle of the Baja California Language College in Ensenada indicated that people were still calling him (even presently) fearful of the news
they'd been hearing of safety concerns. He asked the Secretary how they (the Language School) should respond to people bringing up these issues -
what should they say? The Secretary pointed at the fact of the Tourist Police as one thing they could be talking about.
....and that's what I remember at the moment.
--
Doug MeansBajaNomad - 3-3-2008 at 11:27 AM
He also spoke about the restaurant promo to entice people to get their Passport cards....
.... and that they have already successfully been using a way to get people coming for health services back across the border more quickly (no more
than a 20 minute wait) - and would be looking at ways to do more of these types of things. He said they didn't have control of how fast the U.S. let
people back across, but that they had control of the access back to the gates (or something along those lines).DENNIS - 3-3-2008 at 12:40 PM
So, a customer of the medical establishment will have preferential access to the border.
I was just thinking out loud, wondering which other sectors of the economy will lobby for dedicated lanes.
Thinking further....The US is preparing to spend a lot of money on port expansion. They might wonder why if they realize that lanes to the gate have
been sold to specific business groups within Mexico.
Who's next? Maybe Jorge Hank's off-track betting parlors will sponser a dedicated lane.
As bad as this practice could turn out, the whole idea sucks.
[Edited on 3-3-2008 by DENNIS]fdt - 3-3-2008 at 01:55 PM
Thanks for posting the pictures David and thanks to Ted for putting on a great travel show.SDRonni - 3-3-2008 at 04:14 PM
DH Frank and I enjoyed the show. It was nice to see other nomads there, and so nice to meet Ferna! Thanks, David K for the recommendation to stay
for Graham's "talk." It was great and very entertaining!
We will be in Rosarito tomorrow. I hope things will be calmer trying to cross back than I've been reading about today.
Thanks, Ted, for putting on a great show.David K - 3-3-2008 at 06:08 PM
I am glad you liked Graham's slide show Ronni, anyone who hasn't experienced them really should.
Doug, for not taking any notes, you sure did a great job at recalling the questions...
Fernando, I have a couple more of you and the Secretary, but the one above was the best... I can email you the high resolution versions...
Dennis, that's a very good point!
and I would also like to thank Ted for his efforts... WELL DONE!DENNIS - 3-3-2008 at 06:34 PM
Thanks David..... I took it over to a new thread. Sorry I vented here.David K - 3-4-2008 at 10:06 AM
Dennis, no worries, venting can be good... when it comes to stupid politics!
Ferna, I sent the photos to your hotmail address...MexicoTed - 3-6-2008 at 08:19 PM
Thanks to all Nomads who attended. Unfortunately, I was running around putting out small fires most of the time, but I was able to see a couple of you
such as DK, Doug & family (briefly), Bernie (briefly again), Fernando (good to finally meet), and Art/Alice.
I was glad so many of you came and loved that I saw you all in the Secretary of Tourism talk. Too bad it went long (sorry Graham) as I missed seeing
Graham speak and I know how interesting his presentations are.
We received press coverage on TV (Channel 7 & 10) and in the San Diego Union Tribune, all after the event though.
The event turned out well and we are thinking of heading up to Orange County in June for another one. Will keep you posted.
And David, you are right it was hard work as can be evidenced by that tired-looking guy in the photo you took of me above. Wow, I look like I aged 5
years in that photo!
Anyway, thanks again, and I'm glad to hear you all enjoyed the show....
TedDavid K - 3-7-2008 at 11:31 AM
Well, it was hard work to make it happen and keep your clients happy, too! Sorry about the surprise photo... I was just clicking away and got you at a
rare moment when you weren't smiling!
The event was worth it to us who attended, and I hope it was to you also... Keep 'em coming Ted!
