At the 31^st edition of the World Travel Market (WTM) being held at the Exhibition and Conference Centre (Excel) in London’s Docklands, from November 8^th to 11^th, Gloria Guevara Manzo, Mexico’s Tourism Minister, announced that next year Mexican tourism promotion throughout Europe will be the focus of a newly designed strategy aimed specifically at England, France, Gemany, Italy and Spain.

Mexico, like the rest of Latin America, according to the recently released ‘WTM Global Trends Report 2010 today,’ is switching its marketing focus from its traditional sun and sand options to the lesser-known adventure and ecotourism activities that cover the Mexican map from top to bottom.

A positive aspect that came out of the report, which was carried out in association with Euromonitor International, shows that Mexico, and Latin America as a whole, has bounced back from the recent economic crisis at a greater rythm than other tourism destinations around the world.

In the confines of the WTM, Gloria Guevara is to meet with local tour operators to promote the cultural aspects of Mexico’s tourism options, including the ‘Magic Towns‘ programme and, in relation to the country’s sustainable tourism sector, Gloria Guevara attended the London School of Economics, where she gave a talk on the country’s sustainable tourism activities, stressing the community benifits that result from this tourism niche.

On the Minister’s Twitter page, after meetings with TUI, the German tour operator, Gloria Guevara said the company has committed itself to a visit to Mexico in the near future with a view to increasing their Mexican tourism portfolio.

Also, in talks with Elite Luxury Travel, the minister emphasised that according to the specialist in luxury resort vacations in Europe, Central America and the U.S., Mexico is currently the company’s preferred destination.

In the latest comment on her twitter page, at the time of publication, there is a ‘tweet’ that says Thomas Cook, one of the most important British travel agents, has pledged to increase the company’s Mexican holiday capacity by 30%, excellent news regarding the travelling public from England arriving to Mexican shores. During the past January-September period, British visitors registered an increase of 15% over the same period in 2009. So, with the aforemntioned new options, that number should continue to grow!

According to the latest statistics released by Mexico’s Tourism Ministry (Sectur), this year has seen a significant increase in the number of international tourists visiting Mexico by air, over the January to August period the total has increased by 19.2% compared with the same period last year.

These statistics are definately a welcome sign that the country is heading along the right road with regards to international tourism, because not only are the numbers up on last year’s figures, when there were problems due to the health scare regarding the influenza outbreak, but they are also up by 6% compared with the same period in 2008.

All together, the number of air passengers arriving to Mexico totalled 7,104, 038 during the aforementioned period, of which 4,333,323 came from the United States, up 15.7% on the same period last year.

Meanwhile the number of Canadians visiting the country rose by 20.9% compared with the same period last year, to reach the figure of 1,034,734 and, when compared to 2008, the number of Canadians visiting Mexican territory increased by an impressive 31.8%.

Even more impressive is the annual percentage increase registered in the quantity of Spanish vistors to the country, which passed the 200,000 mark to reach 200,513 – thus showing an increase over last year of 49.2%, although it has to be said that this figure drops drastically when compared with 2008, up just 2%. Still, this year’s number are a nice positive sign for the future!

Meanwhile, from Latin America, the country registering the most visits to Mexico was Argentina, with 121,413 visitors; up 47.3% on last year and 34% on 2008; in second place, but with the highest percentage increase of all, came Brazil, whose citizens almost doubled their number of visits to Mexican shores with an increase of 99.7% over last year; 43.7% above the total in 2008.

Mexico’s Tourism Minister, Gloria Guevara Manzo, announced in a press conference that these figures reflect the work carried out by the Sector with regard to promotion, and as can be seen from the international recognition for the work carried out by  the country’s Tourism Promotion Board (CPTM), there is no doubt that there are positive signs on this front.

However, I certainly wouldn’t rule out a positive role resulting from the recent change in the immigration laws which allows people who have a valid US visa to enter Mexico without having to apply for a Mexican visa.

This new law came into force on May 1st and was announced by Felipe Calderon, Mexico’s president, who stated that the objective for the new rule was to attract an increased number of foreign tourists to the country from “a number of key countries.”

For her part, the then Commissioner of Mexico’s National Immigration Institute (INM), Cecila Romero, confirmed the announcement during a meeting with Embassy and consular staff from the 44 countries which have official representation here in Mexico.

In reality, this recently introduced rule means the number of people applying for Mexican visas from the INM has reduced, resulting in a corresponding reduction in the  red tape involved in visiting the country for citizens from a total of 135 countries, whose citizens currently need a visa to enter Mexican territory.

Indirectly, the measure has also benefitted those citizens who do not possess a valid US visa but need a Mexican visa, given the reduced turnaround time for the visa application process.

For those who do have a valid US visa, the new rule allows them to stay in the country, legally, for a period of up to 6 months. The new measure, according to the Commissioner, was in answer “to the need for more open borders, whilst taking advantage of the use of the latest technology to actually increase the security within the country.”

Among the countries whose citizens are obliged to pay for a visa to enter Mexico are Brazilians, Ecuadorians, Colombians, Cubans, Nicaraguans and Hondurans, to mention but a few of the countries where the visa requirement is in vigour.

Meanwhile, among the countries whose citizens may enter the country without the need for a visa are: the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Denmark and France; a small sample of the 85 countries in this category.

All the figures referred to in this article were issued by Mexico’s Integral System of Migratory Operations (SIOM).