Fernando Olivera, Guanajuato Secretary of Tourism
Within the framework of FITUR 2014 in Madrid, Guanajuato Tourism Secretary Fernando Olivera signed a number of agreements –particularly with the Excelencias Group- for the marketing and promotion of that Mexican state as a “cultural travel destination” of the country. Mr. Olivera sat down with Caribbean News Digital in an exclusive interview in which he spelled out all major details of this accord.
An important deal has been inked today, involving several companies – Excelencias Group among them – to foster tourism in Guanajuato. What are the characteristics of the collaboration?
We have signed a deal today with different companies linked to tour operations, e-commerce or dot-coms, travel agencies and, of course, with Excelencias Group to advertise and promote Guanajuato’s tourism destinations.
This strategy follows the project we started here a year ago, in 2013 FITUR, and Guanajuato has worked throughout these 14 months strengthen its position within the Spanish market.
We’ve seen how the Spanish market has regained, step by step, the economic dynamics and we have bet on it, because we know that the economy is cyclical and we want to be present in this market. We’re presently making emphasis and working harder with important group of Spain – in terms of marketing, spreading and promoting – in an effort to shed light on an essentially cultural destination that is presently going for the diversification of the interest of tourists.
The tourists are no longer looking for sun and beach as such, but new experiences. That’s what we’ve been promoting throughout these years, the different destinations that feature these attractions and Guanajuato is going for it.
We have labeled Guanajuato as “The cultural destination of Mexico” and we’re glad to have tour operators looking for these new destinations.
The gastronomic culture and the appointment of Guanajuato as the Iberian-American Capital of Gastronomic Culture, is one of the elements that can be attractive for people to know Guanajuato from a very active point of view. Is that so?
We identified an opportunity to differentiate this destination, beyond the cultural destination aspect. Gastronomy is undoubtedly part of the culture of our people.
Guanajuato was fortunately named 2015 Iberian-American Capital of Gastronomic Culture. This will allow us be the hosts of culture, of Iberian-American gastronomy next year, but we are going to develop several activities throughout 2014 in order to consolidate our status of Iberian-American capital.
Gastronomy is also a way to give Europeans a reason to travel, and different destinations have taken it as flagship to become benchmarks when it comes to choosing where to travel.
Nowadays, there is a growing number of tourists taking gastronomy-targeted trips; they want to understand the nature and tradition of different cultures through their cuisine. It seems to be simple, but the only two things that you cannot avoid doing when you travel are eating and sleeping.
So, since this is the Iberian-American Capital of Gastronomic Culture, we will not only receive visitors from different latitudes, but it’s also an opportunity to welcome them as hosts of all these Iberian-American gastronomies.
What are the closest international airports to Guanajuato and what airlines fly there?
Guanajuato’s airport, right in the core of the state, receives international airlines. Within the country, we have daily and non-stop flights from Mexico City, Cancun, Monterrey, and Tijuana.
We have bet on international airlift by means of American airlines. Why? Because we have non-stop flights with them from five destinations and they practically connect us to most of the capitals worldwide with only one connection.
We know that more than one connection undoubtedly makes long-haul travelling difficult because it takes over twenty hours to reach a destination. We have non-stop flights from Los Angeles on a daily basis, daily non-stop flights from Houston, Dallas, Chicago and now Atlanta.
So, from Dubai to Tokyo we can have non-stop flights with only one connection: Delta, United, American, Aeromexico, Volaris, they are all flying to our destinations.
Could you describe the position of Guanajuato within the map of Mexico and its borders?
Guanajuato is practically nestled in the geographic center of our country. The geographic center is marked in a mountain region of Guanajuato, El Cubilete hill, where the sanctuary of Christ is based.
Where are we located? 300 kilometers away from Mexico City, to the Northwest, and we have frontiers with Jalisco, Queretaro, Aguas Calientes, Michoacan and San Luis Potosi.
It’s also the road axis to the north of our country, so we have perfect land connectivity to our World Heritage destinations, such as San Miguel de Allende, two hours and half away from Mexico City, or Guanajuato capital, which is also a World Heritage city.
The state has gained momentum when it comes to hosting international events and festivals, just like Cervantes Festival that has turned 41 years old. It’s described as one of the top-five cultural festivals of the world.
As for recreational activities, for over 10 years we have been the venue of the Rally World Championship and other world-class events like the hydrogen balloon festival, the third largest hydrogen balloon festival of the world with 200 balloons flying at the same time. There are also movie festivals like Guanajuato Festival, one of the three most important festivals of our country and Latin America.
All of these elements give us that opportunity to rollout tourism offers for all preferences.
Russia is an emerging market. Is it a possible market for Guanajuato?
Right now we see it more into destinations like the Mexican Caribbean and we wouldn’t rule out the possibility of looking for any extension from Cancun. We are presently strengthening the most natural markets.
There is no doubt about North America, the Spanish market that is more sensitive and mature to go into the intra-territorial destinations of Mexico and, of course, emerging markets like Latin America, South America, the Colombian market that has grown over 50 percent year in year out to such destinations as Mexico, even colonial destinations, and finally the Brazilian and Chilean markets.
Guanajuato finds it easy to get into Japan due to the strategic society we have with the motor industry, so we are going to pay special attention to that market in 2014 to develop that familiarity. In fact, there is a Japanese community based in our state with over one thousand people, and it’s expected to grow to 5 thousand people with permanent residency within three years.
We will also focus our efforts on this market to develop this friends-and-family we have here.
So far, we are aware that the Russian market features great expense capacity and it has become very profitable for countries like Spain, since it’s looking for a product beyond sun and beach. I think that we are going to deal with it next year.
