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Journey Mexico July Newsletter
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Travelocity’s Battle of the Destinations
Travelocity has been running a weekly competition between popular destinations to vacation in Mexico called “Battle of the Destinations.” Travelocity’s Gnome travels to each of the winning destinations and then posts photos at the end of the week.
The first competition was between Cabo, Puerto Vallarta, and the Riviera Maya with the Riviera Maya taking the win.
The second week put Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Mexico City against each other with Monterrey coming out on top.
Week three was a slaughter as Mazatlan dominated Ixtapa, Acapulco, and Cancun.
This week’s battle was another landslide as Oaxaca triumphed over Zacatecas, Guanajuato, and Puebla.
The Battle of the Destinations website is in Spanish, but it’s pretty easy to figure out what’s going on even if you don’t understand the language. The site isn’t very clear, however, about how long these competitions will last. Maybe someone could clarify in the comments of this post. If the winners do eventually face off, you should see much closer results but after taking the 8th spot on Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best cities list, I’d say the culturally rich Oaxaca is the city to beat.
Journey Mexico on The Mexico Report
Susie Albin-Najera recently wrote an excellent article titled “A Transformational Journey Through Mexico: Experiencing The Trip of a Lifetime,” which has been published on The Mexico Report.
The article takes a look at the history of Journey Mexico and also includes an interview with JM Founder and President Zachary Rabinor.
A big thanks to Susie from all of us at Journey Mexico for doing such a great job on the piece!
Time to Plan for the Riviera Maya Jazz Festival
The Riviera Maya Jazz Festival celebrates it’s 8th season this November after drawing more than 50,000 visitors last year. In preparation for this year’s Jazz Festival, the Riviera Maya is offering a special preview event on September 4th in Tulum. The free concert includes internationally famed artists Eddie Palmieri, India, and Araya – Orta Latin Jazz Quartet. To plan a trip to for this event, be sure to contact one of our expert planners today!
This year’s Riviera Maya Jazz Festival will be held from November 25th-28th. More information about the event and artists, visit The Riviera Maya Jazz Festival 2010.
Underwater Sculpture Park in Cancun
Photo via Jason deCaires Taylor
Artist and environmentalist, Jason deCaires Taylor, has entered the final stages of an incredible project designed to alleviate pressure on the natural reefs of Cancun, Mexico by attracting both marine wildlife and human tourists to a currently barren area of sea-floor, which will soon become a natural reef of cement sculptures.
In early 2011, over 400 sculptures made from a special cement neutral in PH and made to foster coral growth will be lowered into the shallow waters off the coast of Cancun. A handful of test sculptures have already been submerged and have shown incredible rates of growth from colorful algae, coral, and other marine-life.
Below is a video interview from Travel + Life Magazine with Taylor about the project. For more information about the underwater sculpture park, visit Jason deCaires Taylor’s website and the Wandering Educators site. You can also find another video here.
Conde Nast 2010 Travel Specialist
Conde Nast Traveler Magazine has chosen Journey Mexico president, Zachary Rabinor, as one of the World’s Top 135 Travel Specialists for 2010. Zach’s segment of this prestigious list can be found on page 115 of Conde Nast Traveler‘s August 2010 Issue, which began hitting news stands last Friday.
Conde Nast’s World’s Top Traveler Specialists list is run by award-winning, world travel expert and “The greatest consumer advocate a traveler could ever have,” Wendy Perrin, the Consumer News Editor for Conde Nast Traveler. Wendy also runs an excellent travel resource at www.cntraveler.com, keeps an informative and fun blog called the Perrin Post, and dominates on Twitter with over 12,000 followers. According to the article, Wendy hand picked this year’s 135 Travel Specialists from more than 10,000 applicants, making it more difficult to be included than getting accepted to Harvard!
Zach and Journey Mexico have also been included as a Destination Specialist in Truth.Travel‘s “Find Your Perfect Travel Agent” search feature. At Truth.Travel, you can read Zach’s profile, search for user comments, and read more about how Conde Nast Travel Specialists are chosen.
Be sure to pick up the August issue of Conde Nast Traveler today!
New Mexico TV Ad
Journey Mexico is excited about the release of the tourism board’s newest television ad promoting Mexico Vacations to Baja California and Mexico’s Pacific Coast.
To create a trip to Mexico to experience the activities and visit the places in this video, contact one of our expert trip planners today!
*Update 7/21/10 – This TV ad is a part of Mexico’s Minister of Tourism’s new ad campaign designed to reach 50% of North Americans. More information about this new campaign can be found at Travel Weekly.
Mexico 2nd Stop on Red Bull Cliff Diving Tour
Photo - Ray Demski / Red Bull
Yucatan, Mexico was the site of the second stop on Red Bull’s 2010 Cliff Diving World Series. If you haven’t seen or heard anything about this Red Bull Series, check it out at their website. Red Bull has definitely succeeded in making the sport of high diving more exciting by adding exotic locations. The event in Yucatan was held at the Ik Kil Cenote, which is often visited on Journey Mexico trips to the Yucatan.
Cenotes are natural wells that are exposed after surface limestone above the wells collapse. These natural pools are prevalent in the Yucatan Peninsula and some other regions of Central America. Some ancient Mayan cultures used cenotes as part of sacrificial rituals. Today, cenotes offer picturesque locations to cool off, go for a swim, or have lunch while vacationing in Mexico. Below is a video from the Red Bull Cliff Diving event at the Ik Kil cenote in Yucatan.
Mexico Has Two of Travel & Leisure’s World’s Best Cities 2010
Mexico took two spots on Travel & Leisure‘s 2010 World’s Best Cities List, tying Italy for most cities on the list. Mexico’s San Miguel de Allende in the Colonial Heartland was named the World’s 4th best city of 2010, and Oaxaca finished shortly after on the list as the 8th best city in the world. This year’s World’s Best Cities List will (I believe) be printed in the September issue of Travel & Leisure.
La Parroquia
San Miguel de Allende – With its small town charm, breathtaking architecture, and lively culture, it’s no wonder San Miguel de Allende was awarded the fourth spot on this year’s World’s Best Cities list (and is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site). One glance at the city’s Parish Church, La Parroquia, and it’s no question that San Miguel de Allende is a must stop on any cultural vacation in Mexico. Check out this video of guests on a Journey Mexico vacation walking the streets of San Miguel with a band of local musicians.
Oaxaca – This laid back metropolitan city also retains a small town charm with its tiny streets and rows of colonial buildings. With its thriving art scene, lively nightlife, and world-class restaurants, Oaxaca most certainly deserves the title of the World’s 8th Best City of 2010.
As the world has begun to open its eyes to the wealth of opportunity for cultural travel experiences in Mexico, Journey Mexico has been hand crafting custom itineraries designed to provide unforgettable trips to both San Miguel Allende and Oaxaca for years. To take advantage of our expertise and build the trip of a lifetime, contact our expert planners today!
New Mexican Cookbook From Diana Kennedy
(AP Photo/Miguel Tovar)
Heralded as the authority on Mexican Cuisine, Diana Kennedy is set to release her second Mexican cookbook Oaxaca al Gusto this Fall. This new cookbook comes four decades after her first release, The Cuisines of Mexico, which has become an essential in the library of any international chef worth their salt. Oaxaca al Gusto focuses on the traditional cuisines of the different cultures within the state of Oaxaca, an area known for its savory dishes.
Diana Kennedy, now 87, is quite the character: smart, tough, funny, and one hell of a cook. But in addition to being personally distinct, she is also highly decorated. She has received the equivalent of knighthood in Mexico with the Congressional Order Of The Aztec Eagle award and has also been honored by the UK a Member of the British Empire award for furthering cultural relations with Mexico. A wonderful portrait of Diana Kennedy can be found in Martha Mendoza’s article at the Associated Press.