Mexico remains the hottest sun destination for Canadians
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By LASZLO BUHASZ
November 6, 2004
Aside from the United States, Mexico will remain the top foreign destination for Canadian travellers this year, according to projections by Mexican
tourism officials and Canadian tour operators.
Last year, 716,000 Canadians visited Mexico, compared with 684,000 who travelled to the United Kingdom, the next most popular foreign destination.
This year, a stronger dollar, pent-up demand and aggressive promotion should see that number increase by 30 to 35 per cent to about one million,
according to Rodolfo Elizondo Torres, Mexico's Secretary of Tourism.
Most Canadians arrive on packaged tours in the fall and winter to soak up the sun at beach resorts on the Yucatan and Pacific coasts and Baja
Peninsula. While Mexico has alternated in popularity with Britain over the past five years, the rapid development of Mexico's tourist infrastructure,
especially along the Yucatan coast, is likely to seal its lead in the coming years.
Elizondo said the government's goal is to double the number of Canadian visitors to Mexico in the next five years, putting it far ahead of Cuba and
the Dominican Republic, the next most popular sun destinations for Canadians.
Tour operators and travel agencies agree that demand for Mexico is at an all-time high.
"We sent 100,000 Canadians to Mexico last year and the number will be higher this year," said Jill Wykes, vice-president of sales and communications
for Sunquest, one of the tour companies under the My Travel corporate umbrella.
Wykes says the most popular destinations are the Mayan Riviera, Cancun and Cozumel on the Yucatan Peninsula, and Los Cabos on the Baja Peninsula. The
Yucatan has seen explosive hotel and resort development and is popular not just for its fine beaches but also because of the Mayan archeological sites
of Chichen Itza and Tulum. The Mayan Riviera is also the top Mexican destination for Air Transat, says Tara Sutton, director of marketing. Also
growing in popularity, she says, are Puerto Vallarta -- especially Nuevo Vallarta to the north of the old town -- and a revitalized Acapulco, both on
the Pacific coast.
Mexico is also the fastest-growing market for Expedia Canada, according to managing director Sean Shannon. Vacation bookings to the country through
the Internet travel company have already doubled over the same period last year, said Shannon, with favourite destinations being the Mayan Riviera,
Cancun, Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos.
While international travel to Yucatan and Pacific coast resorts is fuelling double-digit growth in Mexico tourism, the country wants to promote visits
to the cities of the interior. "We are trying to make visitors and tour companies aware that there is more to Mexico than the beaches," said Elizondo,
who was in Toronto this week to speak with Canadian tour operators. He said a number of cities, including Morelia, Guanajuato and San Miguel de
Allende, offer beautiful Spanish colonial architecture and an opportunity to experience the real culture of Mexico. Away from the heat of the coasts,
he said, they are also year-round destinations.
While there is little doubt the sun and sand of Mexico's coastal resorts will continue to remain the most popular draw, there are indications that
more Canadians are straying off the beaten path.
Air Transat's Tara Sutton says there are strong niche markets developing for quieter places such as Manzanillo and Ixtapa on the Pacific coast, both
of which have become popular with convention groups and incentive travellers.
There is also a growing number of independent Canadian travellers staying in small hotels in the country's interior, says Sylvie Laitre, director of
Mexico Boutique Hotels, a marketing company that represents 32 small high-end properties throughout the country. "Many of our hotels are in historic,
colonial-era cities where North American visitors can experience a European type of atmosphere while also getting a taste of a more authentic Mexican
culture than can be found at the beach resorts," Laitre said.
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