Olmec Exhibits in California

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via Travel Weekly

Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (LACMA) and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco have partnered to present Olmec: Colossal Masterworks of Ancient Mexico, which is an exhibition of giant stone heads carved from massive boulders by the Olmec people of Mexico’s Gulf Coast region.

The Olmecs, who existed sometime around 1400 BC and where centered around Veracruz, are considered Mexico’s oldest civilization. Olmec artists and architects are famous for their ability to carve statues from the extremely hard basalt stones of the region, out of which they would sculpt enormous profiles of the heads of their rulers. These heads, currently featured at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, weigh between 7 and 10 tons each!

Also featured in the exhibit are “small-scale jadeite objects that embody the symbolism of sacred and secular authority among the Olmec.” The exhibit will run in Los Angeles until Jan. 9th and is the first time these massive stone heads have been displayed in the US. From LA, the exhibition will travel north to San Francisco where it will run from Feb. 19th to May 8th.

The Return of Mexicana Airlines?

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The return of Mexicana AirlinesAccording to USA Today, the recently bankrupt Mexicana Airlines may be back in the sky before the year’s end. After ceasing operations in August, Mexicana said that they have decided to accept an investment/business plan from “a tiny Mexican boutique investment firm,” PC Capital.

Reportedly, this new plan needs to restructure $800 million of debt and will reduce Mexicana from a fleet of more than a hundred planes to about thirty. The new Mexicana will operate seven domestic routes and maintain seventeen international routes.

As has been the case throughout the downfall of Mexicana, this new plan’s success lies in the hands of the unions. For the rescue plan to go through, the unions will have to agree to a $155 million dollar bail-out proposal that, while just a fraction of the actual debt, would give the unions a stake in the resurrected Mexicana.

Be sure to “like” the Journey Mexico Facebook page and follow JourneyMexico on Twitter to receive further updates on revival of Mexicana airlines and other Mexican Travel industry news.

Puerto Vallarta’s International Gourmet Festival

Posted by & filed under Culture, Holidays, Fairs & Festivals, News.

Today marks the beginning of the 2010 International Gourmet Festival in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The festival is a ten-day, annual event that has been attracting thousands of people from around the world every year since 1995. Founded by master chefs Thierry Blouet, Heinz Reize and Roland Menetrey, the International Gourmet Festival gives food enthusiasts an incredible opportunity to sample cuisine, taste wines from around the world, and watch cooking demonstrations in the finest restaurants of Puerto Vallarta, which has more signature chefs than any other city in Mexico!

The video below gives a nice overview of previous years’ events, and more. The full schedule and pricing for 2010’s Gourmet Festival in Puerto Vallarta can be found here.

*Culinary Note – Stay tuned for an upcoming video series called Table Talk where Journey Mexico and the 2010 winner of “Puerto Vallarta’s Best Mexican Restaurant,” El Arrayan, bring the flavors of traditional Mexican cuisine to your computer screen!

New Flights to Mexico Update

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New flights to Mexico*Information via Travel Weekly

In December, new flights to Mexico will begin to operate from both Southwest Airlines and Aeromexico.

Starting Dec. 6th, Aeromexico will be operating more flights to Mexico City from New York, Miami, Las Vegas, LA, and Chicago. On Dec. 15th, Aeromexico will also begin to operate their additional seasonal flights from Denver to Mexico City.

Dec. 12th marks the beginning of the new flights that Southwest and Volaris agreed to partner on two years ago. Flights will be offered from 20 Southwest cities to Cancun, Guadalajara, Morelia, Toluca/Mexico City.

More Good News About Mexico

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Good news about MexicoAs Mexico continues to be berated with negative media coverage, it’s important to contextualize the “shocking” news that is often sloppily reported to boost viewership. Below are some recent articles that do a good job of presenting the reality of the current state of affairs.

“Mexico’s Drug War Doesn’t Stop Tourists” (msnbc.com) – Top Quote: “I live in New York City,” said Shari Prince, the owner of a residential real estate company in Manhattan who returned last month from what she called a “fantastic” five-day getaway with her three daughters on the Riviera Maya, which is just southwest of Cancun. “I’d be more concerned about the crime here than in Mexico.”

“Tourism to Mexico jumps nearly 20%” (latimes.com) – Top Quote: “In a surprising turnabout, international tourism to Mexico showed a sharp increase this summer — a sign that tourists may be putting aside worries about the economy and fears of drug-related violence, analysts say.”

“Tourism to Mexico is Up” (nytimes.com) – Top Quote: “In addition to having several of the top sun and beach destinations of the world, Mexico has 30,000 archeological sites, 110,000 monuments and 31 Unesco World Heritage sites. Many places have one or maybe two of these elements, but only Mexico combines all of them in one destination.”

“Mexico Tourism Official: Agents Big Part of Resurgence” (travelagentcentral.com) – Top Quote: “Consumers are now aware that all of these problems are away from (where they will be visiting in Mexico),” Sumano says. “People are much more aware and we wanted to thank the travel agent community because of what they have shared with their clients.”

Virtuoso Statistics on Travel to Mexico

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Mexican-Tourism-StatisticsVirtuoso Travel Network recently released a report with some interesting and exciting figures about travel to Mexico. Below are the highlights:

  • From January to August of 2010, 7.1 million foreign international travelers visited Mexico, which was a rise of 19 percent from the same period in 2009.
  • Alfonso Sumano, director of the Americas for the Mexican tourism board said, “There are several reasons why Mexico’s tourism numbers are up, but the strongest reason is the value Mexico delivers.” He went on to say, “In addition to having several of the top sun and beach destinations of the world, Mexico has 30,000 archeological sites, 110,000 monuments and 31 UNESCO World Heritage sites. Many places have one or maybe two of these elements, but only Mexico combines all of them in one destination.”
  • Continental Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Airlines have all added new flights to Mexico from several North American travel hubs. Also adding flights to Mexico in the near future are: Aeromexico, British Airways, US Airways, Frontier Airlines, Virgin America, and China’s Hainan Airlines.
  • As a show of encouragement for Mexico, Virtuoso held its annual Symposium in Mexico City last April, and Journey Mexico played a central role in the organization and operation of this state level event. Mexican President Felipe Calderón has prioritized tourism, and addressed Symposium to emphasize that message. The president told the Virtuoso audience that his government is spending $50 billion each year on infrastructure improvements to strengthen the country’s appeal as a destination.
  • (According to the Virtuoso Luxe Report) Mexico is second only to Italy in popularity as an international luxury destination. The country offers almost 155,000 five-star hotel rooms, up 7 percent per year since 2007.
  • Virtuoso member Adamarie King of Connoisseur’s Travel feels that “Mexico offers everything that an international luxury traveler could want: cultural attractions such as all types of museums; colonial and contemporary architecture; glorious and varied scenery, including its beautiful beaches; incredible archeological sites, indigenous villages and handicrafts; a broad range of excellent culinary and gastronomic experiences; outstanding luxury accommodations in fine hotels and haciendas throughout the country; and service that in most cases truly comes from the heart – all at prices that often come in at half the cost of a comparable experience in Europe or even Asia.”

 

For up-to-date statistics and topics on safety please click here

 

Journey Mexico Annual Staff Dinner

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As part of the annual Journey Mexico retreat week, the entire JM staff dines together at one of the many delicious restaurants here in Puerto Vallarta. This year’s dinner was held at Blanca Blue, which is the beautiful restaurant inside Garza Blanca Preserve Resort and Spa.

The evening began with cocktails on the veranda outside of Blanca Blue, which overlooks the ocean. Blanca Blue’s signature cocktail, “The Perfect Sunset,” was indeed the perfect compliment to the breathtaking sunset that enfolded before us.

Inside, we were treated to a special menu designed specifically for Journey Mexico, offering appetizers of either Tomato Tartar with French beans or Shrimp Ceviche Acapulco style, main courses of Steak topped with Nopales and a side of Camote in a maple marinade or grilled Bay Snapper with Prosciutto in an orange reduction sauce, and desserts of either fresh plums poached in port with custard brioche and vanilla ice cream or warm chocolate cake with a peanut butter and vanilla milkshake.

Needless to say, the courses were INCREDIBLE! Blanca Blue also matched a variety of wines from their award winning wine selection to each of the dishes and treated us to tasty dessert wine as well. The ambiance in Blanca Blue captures the essence of tranquility, and I speak for everyone when I say that the evening was picture perfect.

Many thanks to Miguel Andres and Blanca Blue for such a memorable night!

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Madonna’s First International Gym to Open in Mexico City

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madonna hard body fitnessInternational superstar Madonna has partnered with her manager, Guy Oseary, to open an international chain of mega-gyms called Hard Candy Fitness. The first Hard Candy Fitness to open is a 30,000 square foot space in the exclusive Bosques de las Lomas area of Mexico City. Madonna is scheduled to attend the grand opening on November 29th.

Madonna and Oseary have partnered with New Evolution Ventures, whose chairman is Mark Mastrov, founder of 24 Hour Fitness clubs, to design Hard Candy Fitness but Mastrov states: “Hard Candy Fitness will be a reflection of Madonna’s point of view and will reflect her input on every detail including music space, light and other design cues. Madonna’s touch will be everywhere,” in the official Hard Candy Fitness press release.

Madonna has been a long time advocate of maintaining a physically fit lifestyle and during her touring career, she has worked out in hundreds of gyms across the world. Hard Candy Fitness Centers will offer the latest in physical training courses including: Zumba, Latin Moves, Cardio Kickboxing, new programs designed specifically for Hard Candy Fitness; and studios for Bike training, Mind Body, BarWorks, Sculpting, Capoeira, and the latest of Yoga trends.

The locker rooms are expected to be lavish featuring saunas and steam rooms, and Hard Candy Fitness centers will also also include healthy juice bars.

Ten other Hard Candy Fitness centers are reported to open in Madonna’s favorite tour locations in Russia, Brazil, Argentina and throughout Europe and Asia in the near future.

For those who live in or travel to Mexico City often, you can find more information about purchasing membership at the enrollment center at Bosque de Duraznos 47, Bosques de las Lomas or by calling +52 55 5245 7550. Journey Mexico is working to offer our clients traveling to Mexico City day passes to the new Hard Candy Fitness. Stay tuned for updates!

Journey Mexico Local Shelter Visit

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Puerto Vallarta Orphanage

Video Below

On Oct. 12th of this year, the Journey Mexico staff visited the Puerto Vallarta AGAPE, which is a local shelter for young ladies in need run by JM trip planner Karina Huet‘s mother, Katalina Huet. After Mrs. Huet gave us a tour of the orphanage, JM president, Zachary Rabinor, gave a speech to the young ladies about the experiences and opportunities of Mexico that inspired Zach to start Journey Mexico and move into the country. Following, we showed the girls Willy Sousa’s inspiring video, “Visit Mexico,” and then outlined an activity which is shown in the video re-cap (below) of the day. More information about the shelter can be found at www.agape.com.mx.

Mexico’s New US Dollar Regulations

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usd regulations in mexicoA new effort in the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime in Mexico is set to take affect in September of this year, and understanding the new regulations should help you make the most of your future travels to Mexico. These new regulations only affect CASH transactions – all other forms of payment will remain unaffected by the new law.

As of September 14th, 2010:

  • Hotels, money exchange booths, and local banks are permitted to exchange a maximum of $1,500 USD cash per person, per month into Mexican Pesos. (Previously, there was no limit).
  • Businesses (including restaurants, shops, and tour and travel companies) are permitted to accept a maximum of $100 USD cash per transaction; however, there are no restrictions on the number of transactions an individual can make. IE: If a vacationer wants to purchase a snorkeling tour (for example) that costs $150 USD, the individual will only be permitted to pay $100 of the amount owed in USD – the remainder must be paid with another form of payment such as a credit card, Mexican Pesos or wire transfer.
  • Certain businesses may not accept USD cash at all, only Mexican Pesos (we do not have specifics as to what types of businesses will be restricted in this manner at this time).

Airlines are advising future passengers that within Mexico after Sept. 14th, they will only accept Mexican Pesos and credit cards for any and all fees including but not limtited to the purchase of new tickets, baggage fees, and change fees.

The new regulations will help in the fight to reduce money laundering and the illegal trafficking of drugs, arms, people and other contraband that has been the cornerstone of President Felipe Calderon’s administration. It is important to take the appropriate measures to ensure that your travel in Mexico is as enjoyable as possible. Journey Mexico recommends that you check with your credit card company and banks that your credit cards will work while aborad and that you are able to withdraw cash from Mexican automated tellers (in our opinion the easiest and cheapest way to secure Mexican Pesos). In addition, you can find out from your bank if there are any partner banks that charge less or no fees for automated teller transactions.

Journey Mexico Adventure Day 2010

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Scroll down for video

Each year, the Journey Mexico team holds its annual retreat to connect, get inspired and strategize about ways to improve the travel experiences that we provide. From budget and HR to Sales and Operations, we spend an entire week working together both in and out of the office. Included in these activities (and a staff favorite) is the JM day of adventure, where we close the office for a day and set out to enjoy the incredible Mexican paradise in which we live – Puerto Vallarta! This year, we embarked on an Outdoor Adventure which took us across the bay and down the coast on a high speed boat ride, up mountainsides on mules, flying through tropical forests on ziplines, and down waterfalls via state of the art repelling equipment.

In true Journey Mexico style, we collaborated with Vallarta Adventures to create a unique experience that you won’t find packaged on any website. After our adventures in the jungle, we boarded a private, high speed zodiac to Las Caletas beach for an incredible lunch, swam with tropical fish in crystal clear waters, and enjoyed afternoon siestas in hammocks gently rocked by the ocean breeze.

After a perfect afternoon on the beach, we returned back to Puerto Vallarta on a leisurely afternoon cruise and relaxed with tropical cocktails, music, and incredible views of the Bay of Banderas and the dramatic tropical mountains that descend into the crystalline sea. You can find a video re-cap and a photo slide show of the day’s adventures below.

For those looking to ad some adventure/private luxury to their travels, this custom day trip is the perfect addition to any vacation to Puerto Vallarta on Mexico’s pacific coast!



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Pushing Mexico Forward

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Mexico: The Place You Thought You KnewEarlier this year, the tourism board of Mexico launched a five month, $32 million ad campaign in North America under the slogan: “Mexico: The Place You Thought You Knew.” The campaign, which is still running, promotes the cultural destinations of Mexico and is intended to re-brand Mexico as more than just a “sun-and-sand” vacation destination.

According to an article published in the Dallas News on Monday, The Place You Thought You Knew campaign along with recent coverage in several major travel publications seems to be paying off. Tourism to Mexico grew 27.5 percent in July of 2010 over July of 2009. August also saw an increase in international air travel to Mexico of 6 percent over August of 2009.

Mexico's Moments

Pullout Guide to Mexico

Travel Weekly quotes the Mexican Tourism Board as saying that “the goal is to simultaneously double arrivals and triple earnings, growing by double-digit percentages annually over the next eight years. The growth goal for 2010 alone is 20%…We have a very specific goal in mind: We want to take Mexico into the top five [travel destinations] by 2018.”

Journey Mexico has been excited to work with the Mexican Tourism Board and other organizations and publications to collaborate on ways to promote the culturally rich travel destinations of Mexico. Recently, Conde Nast Traveler features a 16-page pullout guide to Mexico for their Oct. 2010 issue, which is currently in news stands and is an excellent resource for those interested in unique cultural, natural, adventure and luxury travel experiences through Mexico. You can find Journey Mexico mentions on pages B4 and B12 of the pullout.

JM Team Members Certified Mexico Specialists

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We at Journey Mexico are always eager to sharpen our expertise, enrich our knowledge base, and to stay on the forefront of new developments in Mexico. Three of our staff members recently completed Destination Ventures‘s Magic of Mexico course, sponsored by the Mexico Tourism Board.

Greg Custer of Destination Ventures’s program was awarded by readers of Agent@Home Magazine as the best tourism board training program for any Latin American destination! It also received the coveted Magellan Award from Travel Weekly as one of the top trip planning tools in the industry!

Through this training program, Journey Mexico team members studied new statistics about travel in Mexico, learned about new developments in all areas of the country, and proved their knowledge against the many required tests of the program. Upon completion of the course, Chase Buckner, Jenniffer Celis, and Rene Rivera were all awarded diplomas certifying them as Mexico Specialists by the Mexican Tourism Board and were able to share what they learned from the course with the rest of the Journey Mexico team.

Mexico: The New Europe

Posted by & filed under Adventure, Culture, Luxury, News.

Jody Bear, owner of Bear & Bear Travel, was on our recent FAM Trip to Mexico’s Colonial Heartland and has written a great article in which she compares several of the town in the Heartland to classic tourist destinations of Europe.

Bear & Bear Travel is a Conde Nast Top Travel Specialist and Jody Bear has traveled the world and is considered a leader in global, luxury travel.

You can find the article in full on GenConnect.com > here