Mexican Secretariat of Tourism bets on new tourist offer for every corner of Yucatan

Photo: Sefotur

In an exclusive interview with TTC, the Secretary of Tourism Development of the State of Yucatan, Michelle Friedman Hirsch, comments on the main actions that are being carried out so that the state remains among the main Mexican destinations and positions itself as a benchmark in terms of sustainable tourism that promotes and highlights the vast natural, archaeological and gastronomic attractions and cultural identity.

Recently, during Mexico’s Tourism Tianguis, Yucatán was recognized by prestigious publications that each year recognize the best of tourism, this destination being the most awarded in the “Best of Mexico 2022” awards presented by the magazine México Desconocido.

Added to these awards are those awarded by the Travvy Awards, considered the “Academy Awards” of the travel industry; and the inclusion of the magical town of Maní on the list of Best Tourism Villages awarded by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in 2021.

How is the recovery of the tourism sector going in the State of Yucatan?

We are doing very well; we are happy to see the indicators grow above what we had forecast. For example, in March we had the largest movement of passengers in history in the Mérida International Airport and in January of this year we had the largest number of registered tourists since the registry began (2004 Datatur).

We have thought, from the beginning, that 2022 was the year of recovery, but we are seeing the state recover very quickly; most of the indicators have already reached pre-pandemic levels, considering that 2019 was a record year.

Photo: ©Yucatan Travel/Sefotur.

Currently, what are the main attractions being promoted?

We have implemented a product diversification and decentralization strategy to bring a new tourist offer to every corner of Yucatan, divided into six tourist regions, and in the more than 10 segments that the State has.

We have been promoting a great deal the sun and beach, nautical, rural tourism and Mayan villages segments, in products such as the Mayab path, and we have also worked a lot in the luxury, romance, culture segments and this year we are particularly placing great emphasis on the gastronomic segment under the slogan “The year of gastronomy.”

What are the strategies of the Secretariat of Tourism Development in favor of sustainable tourism?

Sustainability has been the key word since the beginning of this administration; everything we have implemented is always with the objective of being sustainable, not only sustainable in terms of the environment – which is very important to us – but for the sake of preserving and regenerating all resources, in addition to natural, cultural and heritage resources, to make tourism responsible and long term and inclusive and, precisely, diversification and decentralization have to do with being sustainable in the long term, that tourism benefits more people and that it not be an end, but a means to achieve long-term and responsible development for Yucatan.

Valladolid. Photo: ©Yucatan Travel/Sefotur.

What role does innovation play in tourism development in Yucatan?

Innovation is essential for all brands and destinations. The pandemic did not bring something new, but rather highlighted the urgency of accelerating certain concepts, such as digitization, biosafety and sustainability. In this sense, Yucatán had already been working on many issues of innovation, the creation of new products and new experiences adapted to the new tourist who is measured in a personalized and not massive way, a tourist who privileges what is tailormade, authentic and organic, which is in open and natural spaces. Yucatan had already been working on that and on an important digitization scheme in its promotion programs.

Photo: ©Yucatan Travel/Sefotur.

The destination recently hosted important events such as La Noche Blanca and the Maya Rally. What other meetings are planned this year of interest to tourists?

We are betting on gastronomic events, as it is the Year of Gastronomy, because this is an element of identity for Yucatan, because we have everything to be a gastronomic power, a millenary cuisine that fuses many cultures, including the Mayan and several European, because we have a wide variety of talented chefs and cooks, a wide range of restaurants and tourist gastronomic experiences and endemic ingredients that make us unique.

In that sense, we are going to have many events at home and high-level gastronomic festivals, including international ones, and cooking meetings; as well as local gastronomic fairs and we are complementing this with brand presence and promotion in other markets and events outside of Yucatan to continue in the market recovery process.

Puerto Río Lagartos. Photo: ©Yucatan Travel/Cortesía Sefotur.

2022 has been declared by Sefotur as the Year of Yucatecan Gastronomy. What actions are being developed in this sense? Tell us about the “365 flavors in Yucatan” initiative.

In addition to what I mentioned earlier, we are going to be generating new products and tourist experiences through routes, museums and other allusions to gastronomy. Just to mention a few examples, there are the experiences in meliponarios or in bee and octopus farms, in the salt harvesting industry.

We are also going to bring local and international gastronomic events, to take the flavors of Yucatan through ambassadors in the different fairs in which we participate, in events such as the Balloon Festival in Guanajuato or the Morelia en Boca in Michoacán, in addition to the gastronomic marathons that we are carrying out in different cities, and we will give continuity to the “365 days in Yucatán” campaign with a second stage named “365 flavors of Yucatán.”

News regarding air connectivity and the arrival of cruise ships

For us, connectivity has always been fundamental, and we have worked hard on it, both by land, sea and air. We are happy that now we have recovered 200% in international connectivity, that is, we currently have – with the new route announced in TT de Flores (Petén), Guatemala – 8 international routes, 4 more than we had before the pandemic (4) and a 79% recovery of domestic routes.

We will continue working to further strengthen this connectivity, for example, at Tianguis we announced new routes such as the one of El Bajío, which is very important to us, and the route with Flores, Guatemala.