Tourism Secretary Offers Acapulco Alternatives to Tianguis

(Mexico City, NA 13 June) While the Supreme Court considers Acapulco’s petition to stop the departure of the annual tourist fair from Acapulco, Gloria Guevara, the Federal Secretary of Tourism, announced that she will be working on alternative activities to compensate Acapulco for its loss. An announcement should be forthcoming in the next few days. The problem she faces is that the Supreme Court’s order prevents her from announcing the location of the next edition of the annual event, and international attendees, especially from Europe and Asia, will find it difficult to make plans and approve budgets to attend on short notice.

The Secretary expressed surprise at the letter sent last Sunday to the Supreme Court by the Tourism Secretary of Mexico City, proposing two events: one for Acapulco, as usual, and another in some other destination in Mexico. Previously the Tourism Department of Mexico City had supported the idea that the Tianguis Turístico should be itinerant and no longer anchored in Acapulco. The problem the federal authorities now face is that other countries are beginning to compete for the same window of opportunity, and it is possible that Mexico will lose its traditional position among tourism fairs in the world.