Q & A with Roberto Trauwitz, Secretary of Tourism of Mexico’s Puebla

The Mexican state of Puebla features several tourism allures and it significantly advertises its products and destinations. Puebla brings all of its expertise and projects to WTM London 2015. Caribbean News Digital sat down with the Secretary of Tourism, Roberto Trauwitz. Puebla is once again in WTM.

Puebla is back in WTM. What are your expectations this year?

Being in WTM is very important to us, especially this year when the UK and Mexico had a lot of work and promotion. Great expectation has been generated for British tourists to have an unforgettable experience in the State of Puebla. Puebla thinks that advertising is a key element both in international and national events.

Our presence in this kind of events helps us gain visibility, recognition and lots of contacts. It’s very important to reach out to the final distributor, since they go to their countries and work with their customers so they can see Puebla as a priority destination for them.

What’s the market with the highest growth this year?

The Colombian market is the one that has grown the most for Mexico. We recently opened a non-stop flight frequency between Puebla and Panama, which enhances the airlift with the whole Latin America. Anyway, Colombia’s numbers have stood out.

Is there any ongoing negotiation for you to have more nonstop flights from other Latin American countries?

We’re always trying to establish negotiations, we’ll keep on working and we’ll talk about this later on.

What are the new tourism products? I’ve heard that Puebla betting its smart money on religious tourism, but you also have other products.

We definitely pay great attention to religious tourism. We have a lot of tourism products. The Wheel of Fortune is an example: the Star of Puebla – movable – is the biggest one in the world, but we also have such products as the video mapping of the cathedral and we’re working on other world-class tourism products: the reorganization and dignifying of Cholula – the archaeological site – the largest pyramidal base on the planet, the establishment of a regional museum and a tourism train. The International Baroque Museum is being built by architect Toyo Ito. We’re focused on these projects, which will certainly please everybody.

Security is a key aspect in Puebla.

The governor has aimed his efforts at having a safe State. We’re one of the safest states in the country, a fact that is backed up by numbers. When we took office, Puebla was annually receiving 6.9 billion visitors. Last year we had 12 million 174 thousand and this year round we have nearly grown in 9 percent. We have to keep on working to reach out goals and security is obviously very important.

It’s a safe State, renowned at international and national levels. That’s why we won an award related to the creation and innovation of tourism products. It’s a great state that can be entirely enjoyed.

You’ve mentioned tourism products and gastronomy is an excellent element in Mexico. There would be no Mexican gastronomy without the Mole Poblano. What’s the importance of gastronomy in the promotion of the tourism destination?

I’m glad to hear it from you. In fact, Mole Poblano is the most internationally famous dish, Chile en Nogada is the finest one. The millenarian corn comes from Teotihuacan Puebla and the avocado from Atlixco. Just imagine what gastronomy means to us. This was a great year throughout the Chile en Nogada season. For example, we’ll have the Mole de Calderas in Festival, a regional dish from Teotihuacan, Puebla. It’s extraordinary.

Tourism is being increasingly defined by experiences. Nowadays, the gastronomic experience offered by Puebla is magnificent and people love it. We’re about to hold the World Day of Mexican Gastronomy, on November 16, and we’re working hard on this aspect for customers to enjoy.

Could we finally say that gastronomy is a tourism attraction in Puebla, not only for international customers, but for locals?

Indeed. A study shows that people drive 200 kilometers to visit a destination and we have 39.5 million inhabitants 200 km away from Puebla. It’s a huge market with great potential. A lot of people go out on Saturday in order to eat a Chile Poblano or Mole en Nogada and then they go back to the places where they live. The gastronomic tourism is quite important to us.