Miguel Gonzalez Gonzalez. Managing Director of the Puerto Vallarta Tourism Trusteeship

Q.- Will you explain to us what the Trusteeship is all about and what your responsibilities are?

A.- The Trusteeship is an entity that saw the light of day with a view to manage the funds coming from 2 percent of the state budget reserved for promotional and advertisement actions, always speaking in terms of institutional actions, that is. As to what my job is actually like, well, I’m responsible for coordinating those actions, for watching that all parts toe the line and that all actions are conducted within the framework of institutional and promotional actions. There’s a commitment to funnel funds collected from taxes levied on tourists and visitors into the municipal coffers, and part of this money is collected by local hotels, too.

Q.- How long have you been in this post?

A.- Three years and four months.

Q.- How is the Trusteeship laid out?

A.- The Trusteeship is made up of a basic structure, that is, the Marketing Subcommittee that gathers the hotel directors, sale directors and representatives of entrepreneurial organizations from the city which come together on a regular basis to assess proposals on publicity and promotion of a certain destination in different markets leaning to that particular destination.

Above the subcommittee, as the top entity, we have the Technical Committee made up of ten representatives, five from public bodies and the other half from private organizations, such as chambers and associations. This is where all of the marketing subcommittee’s recommendations are okayed.

The Technical Committee then instructs me to keep tabs on those suggestions or agreements, so that I oversee the actions previously passed by that committee.

Q.- Are representatives from the Puerto Vallarta Hotel Association also members of that technical committee?

A.- Yes, they are. The hotel association appoints a representative owner who then leads the technical committee. We’ve got one rep from the federal Tourism Department, another one from the state’s Tourism Department and three from the City Hall, as well as from the Chamber of Commerce. There are also representatives from the Hotel Entrepreneurs and Investors Association, the Conventions and Visitors Bureau and the Association of Shared Time Tourist Promoters.

Q.- What kind of policy is Puerto Vallarta going to follow to climb to the highest notch among tourist destinations and hold on to its traditional glamour?

A.- Puerto Vallarta knows all along it counts on a real, well-defined product. It’s not only a beach-and-sun spot. It has a very Mexican town and that’s its major strength. We must work in telling it apart from other sun-and-beach destinations, underlining its many choices for hikes, tours and the sensation of living in a traditional Mexican town. We must focus on image details and reorganization efforts that could show off the quality of the product we’re offering.

By the way, one of Puerto Vallarta’s features is the opportunity it gives us to feel the environment of the nearby town, the chance of swapping our noisy offices for chirping birds and the sound of the waves, the opportunity of feasting eyes on amazing mountains and tasting the best Mexican food money can buy. Those are thinks that pack a punch to our senses.