Journey Mexico Blog

It’s not too late to catch the April addition of the Journey Mexico Newsletter where our headline story highlights the fairs & festivals going on in Mexico. The spotlight section features Puebla, where you can also follow and share pictures, posts & video all month long on our facebook!  Our Travel Promotion highlights Hacienda Tres Rios and Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit. Ands always, you will also find the latest news of hotel & industry updates, and latest news from Journey Mexico including upcoming travel dates through April.

You can view the newsletter in its entirety here>>

This article has been translated from Leon-Mexico.com

Volaris Airlines announced the launch of new routes within Mexico, one which will connect Cancun with the Colonial region of Mexico through the airport in León, Guanajuato. The new route will run two times a week and they will be using Airbus A319 and A320 planes with capacities for 144 and 177 passengers, respectively.

The first connection between León-Cancún started March 29 with two weekly flights on Thursdays and Sundays. Jesus Almaguer Salazar, the Cancun Director of the Visitors and Conventions Office considered that both flights would allow the influx of tourism to the Bajío region just in time for spring vacations, which opens the door to  potential markets to and from the Mexican-Caribbean and until now was only catered by Magicharters.

In an interview, Salazar highlighted that the tourism from these cities and neighboring states had to travel through Mexico City or Guadalaraja to get to Cancun,  and the new flight routes will produce a reduction in traveling costs that will translate into a larger spending by these tourists  in the areas they are visiting.

Other new routes from Volaris include: Mexico City to Puerto Vallarta, Cancun to Aguascalientes, Guadalajara to Puebla and  Guadalajara to Los Mochis.

When planning your trip to Mexico, don’t forget to research Mexican airline carriers for their international flights. VivaAerobus, Volaris, Interjet, and AeroMexico are continuously expanding beyond their domestic routes.

It’s not too late to catch the March addition of the Journey Mexico Newsletter where our headline story highlights spring’s best vacation destinations. The spotlight section features Puerto Vallarta & Riviera Nayarit, where you can also follow and share pictures, posts & video all month long on our facebook!  Our Travel Promotion highlights Banyan Tree Mayakoba and Las Alamandas. Ands always, you will also find the latest news of hotel & industry updates, and latest news from Journey Mexico including upcoming travel dates through April.

You can view the newsletter in its entirety here>>

The January addition of the Journey Mexico Newsletter is out, with a new look! Our headline story recaps 2011 travel and shares 2012 predictions and we’ve added a spotlight section featuring the Copper Canyon!  Our Travel Promotion highlights the luxury Haciendas, 5 beautiful properties in the Yucatan you can choose to stay at with an exclusive JM offer.  Ands always, you will also find the latest news of hotel & industry updates, and latest news from Journey Mexico including upcoming travel dates for January & February.

You can view the newsletter in its entirety here>>

Looking to discover the local treasures of Mexico with exceptional experiences? Nestled between azure waters and archaeological treasures, the historic Haciendas in The Luxury Collection of Starwood Hotels & Resorts combine a rich heritage with extraordinary amenities.  Journey Mexico, together with The Haciendas in the Yucatan region of Mexico, bring you an exclusive offer valid at any five of their properties.

Offer:

3 night minimum stay (mix-and-match)

Upgrade to next category subject to availability upon arrival

American Breakfast

One 3 course dinner (alcoholic beverages not included, indicate the hacienda  at time of booking)

Booking Window: January 02 – March 31, 2012
Travel Window: January 02 – March 31, 2012

Rates starting at $490 usd per room per night  + 19 % taxes + 5% service charge

Repost from Conde Nast Traveler

Thanks to Mayan prophecies and reports of violence, travelers have a lot of questions about traveling to Mexico these days. On Thursday at 2pm EST, Zachary Rabinor of Journey Mexico—one of the top-rated, thoroughly vetted travel specialists that is recommended in Wendy Perrin’s Top Travel Specialist Collection—will be live on the Conde Nast Traveler Magazine Facebook page to answer questions.

Here are a few more details about this online session:

When & Where
The Conde Nast Traveler’s Facebook chat is scheduled for today, Thursday, Jan 12, at 2 p.m. Eastern Time. Getting there is easy. Simply link to the Conde Nast Traveler’s Facebook page. In the meantime, spend a few minutes thinking about what you’d like to get out of your trip to Mexico so that you can make the most of this opportunity. You can post your questions as soon as the chat starts.

A Little About Zachary Rabinor
Zachary, your travel expert for this event, lives and breathes Mexican tourism. In fact, he spends most of his time inside the country and bases his operations out of Puerto Vallarta. If you’re looking for someone who knows the scoop on where to stay, the local culture, the best surfing spots or how to get a seat at the chef’s table in a top restaurant, Zach is the man to talk to! On January 12th, be ready to ask Zach the hard questions. You can bet he’ll have the answers!

Don’t miss this chance to ask Mexico’s top travel specialist all your most detailed questions. If you found this post a little too late, don’t worry! Just give our travel experts at Journey Mexico a call. If they can’t answer your questions, they’ll get the information for you directly from Zach! He’s definitely the brains behind Journey Mexico.

———————————————————————————————————————————————

Update Post-Chat: You can find the thread here

Source: Marca Pais - Imagen de Mexico

#MexicoToday: Approximately 10.4 million tourists are expected to visit Mexico during the last two weeks of 2011, according to estimates announced recently by Secretary of Tourism Gloria Guevara Manzo.

The Mexican newspaper Excelsior reported that 10.4 million national and international visitors will vacation in Mexican tourist destinations between December 16, 2011 and January 2, 2012. This statistic represents a 4 percent increase over the same time period last year. Approximately 60 percent of these tourists will vacation in Mexico during the final week of 2011.

Wondering how accurate their predictions might be? Take our growing travel company, Journey Mexico, for example. Agreeing with the estimates announced by the Secretary of Tourism, our December 2011 figures show a 5% increase in passengers travelling to Mexico compared to last year. Things are looking even better as 2012 approaches, bookings for the coming year are up 64% over this same time last year!

MexicoToday will celebrate end-of-the-year tourism with the special hashtag #10millionTourists. Visitors to Mexico are encouraged to follow @MexicoToday on Twitter and use the hashtag to share their vacation stories.

#MexicoToday: As we near end to 2011, Mexico’s declared “Year of Tourism”, it is safe to say it is ending on a positive note.  In addition to seeing increasing numbers of tourists arriving to Mexico, a plethora of investments, acknowledgments and awards,  Mexico has also been successful hosts of some large international events including the 2011 Pan-American Games held in Guadalajara and the 2011 Adventure Travel World Summit in Chiapas. To keep the momentum going in 2012, Mexico has been designated the host country for the G20 Summit and also the World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) first Regional Summit.

The WTTC, the global authority for tourism,  is made up of the Chairs, Presidents and Chief Executives of the world’s leading private sector Travel & Tourism businesses. These specialists bring knowledge to guide government policy and decision-making, raising awareness of the importance of the industry. The first Regional Summit (including North, Central, South America and the Caribbean) will be hosted in May 2012 in Cancun by the Mexican Ministry of Tourism. It will directly follow the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s T20 Minister’s Meeting that will be taking place in Merida.

David Scowsill, President & CEO of WTTC said:

Mexico is the ideal host for our first regional Summit… Mexico leads the way in recognizing the enormous contribution Travel & Tourism makes to the economy, employment and export income. President Calderón has a strong commitment to tourism which is underlined by the declaration of 2011 as the ‘Year of Tourism’ and by being the first to join WTTC’s and UNWTO’s joint Global Leaders for Tourism Campaign, which highlights the importance of tourism to global growth and development..

Following the 2012 WTTC’s Region Summit in May, Mexico has been selected to host the 5^th G-20 Summit. The G20 Summit’s began in 2008 in response to world financial crisis, bringing together the Head of States of world economies to discuss the global financial market and strengthen international cooperation. Chosen as the 2012 chair and host, Mexico believes the forum can better represent developing countries in both vision and policy.  Under the leadership of President Felipe Calderón, Mexico will seek to expand the scope of the G-20′s development focus.  President Felipe Calderón hand selected Los Cabos in Baja California Sur as the official  city to assemble the G20 Summit.   The destination’s first-class hotel and airport infrastructure were noted as two important factors in the decision.

“Los Cabos is extremely proud and honored to be selected as the official host city for the G20 Summit as this is an incredible opportunity for our destination as well as for the country of Mexico,” says Gonzalo Franyutti, President of the Los Cabos Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Los Cabos has the exclusive appeal, a contemporary tourism infrastructure and the safety record required to host an event of this global caliber. As a haven for VIPs throughout the world, Los Cabos is truly the ‘Window to the World’ for Mexico.  We look forward to welcoming the G20 delegates and attendees to our destination.”

We at Journey Mexico look forward to keeping you updated in 2012 on these world class events and more exciting news.

#MexicoToday: Every year, Lonley Planet publishes a ‘Best in Travel’ guide and ranks the top 10 countries, regions and cities to visit for the coming year. For 2012 Readers’ Choice,  Puebla, Mexico was named among one top 10 cities to visit.

Drawing on the knowledge, passion and miles travelled by Lonely Planet’s staff, authors and online community, they present a year’s worth of travel inspiration to take travelers of the ordinary and into some unforgettable experiences. Hot off the press, Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2012 had one difference in their decision process this year– they wanted to hear what the travelers of the world think will be 2012’s hottest destinations.  After hundreds of nominations for cities and countries and regions,  we are proud to see that Puebla, Mexico made the Top 10, alongside destinations such as Barcelona, Iceland, Rio de Janeiro, Istanbul and Bangkok.

Puebla, a charming colonial city with a UNESCO acknowledged Historic City center,  was recently reported one of the the Top 5 Safest Place to Travel in Mexico in the San Francisco Chronicle. It is a city known for it’s twin volcanoes, site of the Cinco de Mayo battle, great poblano gastronomy,  historic buildings and a wealth of archaeological sites. Combine this with it’s on-going  festivals and traditions, it is no wonder that Puebla draws in plenty of tourists each year to merit it’s Top 10 status among some of the grandest cities in the world.

Not convinced yet? Check out the website All About Puebla as it further examines all the attention Puebla has been getting lately, including recognition from National Geographic and The New York Times  who picked Puebla as one of its 45 places to go in 2012.

Start browsing our Puebla itineraries here and start planning your trip to one of 2012′s must visit cities.