Mexico Tourism Board to Open Office in Washington, D.C.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) March 30, 2007 -- As part of a more aggressive international promotional strategy in North America, the Mexico Tourism Board (MTB) will open a marketing office in Washington, D.C. in May, bringing the total number of offices in the region to nine.

Heading up the Washington, D.C. office will be Eduardo Chaillo, a Mexico Tourism Board veteran who once led the Mexico Convention Bureau (MCB) and most recently oversaw the MTB�s promotional efforts in the United States and Canada from the MTB's midwestern headquarters in Chicago.

According to Chaillo, the office opening responds to a need to better service the northeast region, whose high population density and per-capita income make it one of Mexico�s most important international tourism feeder markets. The city is also home to many of the United States� leading travel associations, government agencies and chambers of commerce, as well as the Mexican Embassy, making an established presence for the MTB there particularly important, Chaillo said.

While the office will specialize in all product segments, from sun and beach to nature to culture, particular emphasis will be placed on meetings and conventions, according to Chaillo. Mexico wants to stake its claim for a larger piece of the United States� business travel market, estimated by the Convention Industry Council at US$122 billion; currently, only 12.5 percent of the meetings and conventions organized by U.S. companies are held in Mexico, meaning the sector offers tremendous opportunity, . According to the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA), 30 percent of organizers of the 300,000 conventions it registered last year expressed a desire to hold events in Mexico.

In addition to opening an office in the U.S. capital, the MTB will also expand operations in its West Coast office, headquartered in Los Angeles, announced Mexico Tourism Board CEO Francisco Lopez Mena. The region is by far the most important U.S. tourism feeder market for Mexico, responsible for more than 2.4 million of the international tourists visiting the country in 2006, said Lopez Mena.

Funding for the office and other promotional initiatives slated for the coming year will come from the MTB's promotional budget of 1.61 billon pesos (about 150 million dollars), 40 percent larger than the previous year. The increase derives from the recent passage of a provision increasing from 50 to 70 percent the MTB's share of tourism revenues from the International Tourist Tax (DNI).

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Erick Laseca
Mexico Tourism Board
312-228-0517 ext14
erick.laseca@bm.com
www.visitmexicopress.com