Mexico Tourism Tianguis 2005 Is a Trade Fiesta

Mexican suppliers, and U.S. agents and operators, are gearing up for the Mexico Tourism Tianguis 2005 tourism trade fair, to be held in Acapulco April 10 to 13.

According to Mexico´s tourism board, a study of last year´s Tianguis found that 45% of international buyers´ annual sales, along with and 32% of Mexican supplier sales, were a product of negotiations at the annual trade fair, which attracted 1,500 Mexican suppliers and 994 international buyers in 2004.

On the other hand, the Mexico Tourism Board launched Meetings On-line, a new, password-protected service within the Meeting and Conventions section of its www.visitmexico.com Web site, to facilitate dealings between international meetings planners and Mexican hotels, convention centers and other suppliers.

Registered supplier and buyer users can review available product online and then both submit proposals and conclude contracts via e-mail.

Other features include client and supplier database creation; lists of venues, providers and promotions; searches by state, city, number of rooms, space requirements, and other vectors; analysis of up to eight offers at once; on-line proposal forms and an archive of previously submitted proposals.

Tourism to Mexico grew 10.5%, to 20.6 million visitors, last year compared to 2003, according to Mexican tourism ministry Sectur, while related revenues hit an historic high of $10.8 billion, up 14.6% over the year before.

In addition, visitor spending grew 4.4%, the tourism industry´s trade balance was 21.1% higher, airplane arrivals jumped 15.2%, and 15% more cruise ship passengers docked in Mexican ports. Tourism is expected to account of 8.2% of Mexico´s economy in 2005.