TIJUANA — Baja California has been losing cruise-ship visitors, sales of coastal real estate have plummeted and many resort hotel rooms sit empty. Yet
the range of tourism offerings for visitors to the state has never been greater.
Among this year’s choices: a large agricultural fair in Mexicali, new fine-dining restaurants in Tijuana, an expanded wine festival in Ensenada, and
surfing and rock-climbing classes in Rosarito Beach.
In the wake of a difficult decade for tourism, government and private promoters in Baja California are finding more ways to attract visitors as they
launch into the traditional summer peak season. The state’s tourism secretary, Juan Tintos, speaks of “reorganizing, redefining our strategies in the
tourism sector.”
That means continuing to target Hispanics living in the United States but also relying more heavily on Mexican domestic tourism. It means depending
far less on the traditional flow of Americans to Baja California’s beaches and focusing on new niches: athletes and sports fans, food and wine
devotees, convention visitors and medical tourists.
When things were going well, “the state didn’t have a need to look in general at what it can offer,” said Laura Torres, whose family owns and operates
Rosarito Beach Hotel. Then a series of crises in recent years forced the search for a broader range of offerings.
Torres, the head of Baja California’s Business Coordinating Council, has started a tour agency that takes guests on excursions such as whale-watching
trips, visits to a Spanish mission, rappelling classes in nearby La Mision.
“We have so much to offer, that we’re ourselves getting to know our state,” she said.
Jahdiel Vargas, a tourism consultant in Tijuana, said the region is still evolving from the mindset of “traditional 1980s tourism,” when “it didn’t
matter what you did as long as you were in a foreign country.” The latest trends in tourism worldwide — where many visitors now seek out specific
activities — are forcing specialization and different promotional strategies for Baja California, he said.
“The tourists who are trying to find new experiences in Mexico are pushing us to do better,” Vargas said.
A decade ago, lengthy waits at ports of entry along the San Diego sector dealt a severe blow to cross-border tourism, the result of tighter U.S.
border security following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In subsequent years, the U.S. economic downturn, the H1N1 swine-flu scare and reports
of drug-gang violence in Mexico served to further discourage American visitors to Baja California.
Aiming for a recovery, Tijuana’s Tourism and Conventions Committee has sought out new markets.
“Blue-eyed, blond tourism is not coming down, by a long shot,” said Mariano Escobedo, the committee’s president. In its place, he said, local, state
and national Mexican tourists are increasingly filling the void.
Figures from Banco de Mexico show that tourist expenditures in Baja California dropped from $1.25 billion in 2006 to $1.01 billion in 2009, while the
numbers of international visitors fell from 27.1 million to 24.1 million in that period.
The downward trend was stemmed last year with a slight increase in both counts, and tourism promoters have been taking heart.
Tourism accounted for about one-tenth of Baja California’s revenues last year, generating about $835 million, Tintos said. He hopes to raise that
figure to $855 million this year.
“We’re not abandoning the American market, we’re changing our strategy” with methods such as emphasizing the use of social media and reaching out more
to Canadians and U.S. Hispanics, Tintos said.
According to hotel occupancy figures, the signs have been encouraging on holiday weekends — including Easter and Memorial Day — especially in
Rosarito, San Felipe and other beach destinations.
One sign of the changing times is Turista Libre, a monthly tour led by Derrik Chinn, a U.S. citizen who lives in Tijuana.
His day trips draw between 25 and 40 participants who come to experience Tijuana like a Tijuanense might on his or her day off: visits to an indoor
roller-skating rink, a Xolos soccer game, Tijuana’s cultural center, the El Vergel water park in eastern Tijuana — site of the June 25 tour.
The idea, Chinn said, is to “put an outsider in the shoes of an insider for the day.”
San Diegans, he said, do “hear good things about Tijuana amid all the bad news. They’ll catch whiffs of good things — like ‘Tijuana has an amazing
music scene, Tijuana has an amazing arts scene’ — but they don’t know how to go about finding it.”
BAJA CALIFORNIA TOURISM: WHAT’S CHANGING
More Mexican visitors
*The domestic market has become increasingly important for Baja California’s tourism industry in recent years.
*More than 90 percent of the 18,000 out-of-state visitors to Mexicali’s annual Agrobaja agricultural fair this year were from other parts of Mexico,
according to the event’s coordinators.
*Tijuana’s Tourism and Conventions Committee reports that domestic demand accounts for 80 percent of hotel-room rentals.
*The Rosarito Ensenada 50-Mile Fun Bicycle Ride, a twice-yearly event that traditionally has relied heavily on U.S. tourists, has been attracting an
increasingly larger proportion of Mexican riders. “Baja tourism is reinventing itself, and we that bring tourists down are adapting to its changes,”
said Gary Foster, the ride’s promoter.
Sports events
*The Baja California High Performance Center, a sprawling athletic facility that opened in 2003, has allowed Tijuana to host national and
international competitions. The state is making a bid to host Mexico’s National Olympics in 2013. The event drew 13,000 athletes and 20,000 supporters
to the area when it was held in 2009.
*The Xoloitzcuintles soccer team in Tijuana has developed a growing following on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, particularly after its
ascension to Mexico’s Primera Division in May.
Conventions
*A new convention center is under construction between Tijuana and Rosarito Beach. It is scheduled to open in 2012 and will be able to accommodate
close to 5,000 people, state officials said.
*Tijuana’s Tourism and Conventions Committee has 20 national conventions on its calendar for this year. Among groups that have gathered in the city so
far are the Mexican Association of Public Accountants, the Mexican Volleyball Federation and the National Congress of Urological Gynecology.
Food and wine
*Ensenada’s Fiestas de la Vendimia, the annual grape harvest festivities, drew close to 35,000 visitors last year. Organizers expect to surpass that
number during this year’s event in August.
*Mexico’s federal tourism secretary has listed Valle de Guadalupe and surrounding wine-producing areas among the nation’s 10 major tourist routes.
*More microbreweries are pulling beer aficionados to the state. Many of them will be featured next month at a beer festival in Tijuana.
*Baja California cuisine has been receiving greater international recognition. For example, celebrity chef Rick Bayless is focusing on Baja cuisine
during the eighth season of his PBS program, “Mexico, One Plate at a Time,” which is scheduled to air this year.
"continuing to target Hispanics living in the United States but also relying more heavily on Mexican domestic tourism"
This is what we are seeing in Rosarito Beach, Mexican tourists not blond ones. I think attracting more internal domestic tourism is a smart start for
Rosarito although it does little for the high end hotels and restaurants. You have to start somewhere.
\"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing\"
1961- JFK to Canadian parliament (Edmund Burke)
Originally posted by Woooosh
"continuing to target Hispanics living in the United States but also relying more heavily on Mexican domestic tourism"
This is what we are seeing in Rosarito Beach, Mexican tourists not blond ones. I think attracting more internal domestic tourism is a smart start for
Rosarito although it does little for the high end hotels and restaurants. You have to start somewhere.
So only gringos have money Wooosh?
What high end hotels and restaurants are in Rosarito?
Originally posted by Woooosh
"continuing to target Hispanics living in the United States but also relying more heavily on Mexican domestic tourism"
This is what we are seeing in Rosarito Beach, Mexican tourists not blond ones. I think attracting more internal domestic tourism is a smart start for
Rosarito although it does little for the high end hotels and restaurants. You have to start somewhere.
So only gringos have money Wooosh?
What high end hotels and restaurants are in Rosarito?
Always a battle huh Joe? Occupancy at the many downtown Rosarito Beach 200 pesos per night motels on the strip is up, occupancy at the 2000 peso per
night Rosarito Beach Hotel is flat or down. The roadside taco shops are busy, the high end restaurants are not. I do not know what the impact of the
$1/hour parking meters are that went into effect yesterday. yckmgwab
\"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing\"
1961- JFK to Canadian parliament (Edmund Burke)
Originally posted by Woooosh
"continuing to target Hispanics living in the United States but also relying more heavily on Mexican domestic tourism"
The US Hispanic demographic is a desperate compromise for a tourism market insomuch as they arn't universally popular in Mexico. In fact, some here
refer to them as "Men without a country."
In their zeal to link themselves with Mexico as a mother-land, they espouse their blood loyalty to Mexico in spite of being born in the US.
"Mi Tierra." Devotion to the Virgin of Guadalupe....and anything else that will bind them to their fantasy.
In view of this, that they turn their back on their rightful birthland and pledge emotional allegiance to a land not their own as though birth rites
are in the blood, they end up with nothing at all. They are "Men without a country."
Even today, this is not endearing to Mexican Nationals, but the Dept. Of Tourism is willing to overlook this in hopes the "New Tourism" will spend a
few bucks. Their unspoken motto will remain, "The best part of the Red, White and Blue is Green. Leave it and leave."
Ya know Dennis, I had not considered that Mexican-Americans may not want to visit Mexico as tourists on political/social grounds or that
Mexican-Americans as tourists are less than welcome down here. interesting.
\"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing\"
1961- JFK to Canadian parliament (Edmund Burke)
Originally posted by Dave
What happened to the plans for homosexual tourism?
They could paint everything pink and purple and give it a go.
yeah, like that would be enough. Pink and Purple? I think someone in the Baja state government put the kibash on gay rights in Baja, specifically
gay marriage. That happened at the same time they were talking-up gay tourism. Just bad timing... again.
\"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing\"
1961- JFK to Canadian parliament (Edmund Burke)
Originally posted by Dave
What happened to the plans for homosexual tourism?
They could paint everything pink and purple and give it a go.
Now...wait a minute. That's what the expats do. They believe that vibrant colors are endemic to the area and are part of indiginous life here. Very
colorful poverty. They all make vibrant paper flowers and live a colorful life.
What ***kking nonsense.
The gays are something else. Who cares what they think they want or deserve because they're gay.
Work and earn it because I'm not in the mood to give it to you.....whatever in hell that is.
Originally posted by DENNIS
In fact, some here refer to them as "Men without a country."
In their zeal to link themselves with Mexico as a mother-land, they espouse their blood loyalty to Mexico in spite of being born in the US.
"Mi Tierra." Devotion to the Virgin of Guadalupe....and anything else that will bind them to their fantasy.
Dennis - This same phenomena is what was examined in the film, "Bar, El Chino" of the Argentenian patrons with Italian and Spanish blood ties with
their respective European land. To understand the Mexican-American psyche, it is helpful to look outside of our microcosm to see what other
immigrants are also experiencing.
Not in my house. Your reference excludes my existance as rightful participant in the scheme of the USA.
I want to see references to the European source of society in our America. I'm sick and tired of being ignored.
We only survive because we are the quiet majority and that is changing. The day will come, with our ignorance to what is taking place, when the core
demographic of the US will be subserviant to those who assail our borders today.
Originally posted by DENNIS
"Mexican-American psyche"
Not in my house. Your reference excludes my existance as rightful participant in the scheme of the USA.
I want to see references to the European source of society in our America. I'm sick and tired of being ignored.
Bar El Chino examined the lives of Argentenians during their millenial fiscal crisis. It is an excellent film which illustrates this topic in the
lives of its ordinary citizens.
[WARNING]Here is the heartwarming end of the movie.
Originally posted by Ken Cooke
The above movie is a pretty durn good example. Doncha think?
No....I don't. It's a drama sin realidad. If you replaced the actors with Blacks...you would have a different opinion.
You have a terrible opinion of Whites, Ken. You always have.
I respect that, but don't try to sell it to me. I was born this way.
"If it were lush and rich, one could understand the pull, but it is fierce and hostile and sullen.
The stone mountains pile up to the sky and there is little fresh water. But we know we must go back
if we live, and we don't know why." - Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez
"People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." - Theodore Roosevelt
"You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who they think can do nothing for them or to them." - Malcolm Forbes
"Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others
cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you." - Jim Rohn
"The best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question; it's to post the wrong answer." - Cunningham's Law
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