SEFOTUR: Acapulco and Guerrero Are Organizing the Tianguis

(Acapulco, ElSur 9 August) After a conciliatory meeting between Graciela Báez (Tourism secretary of Guerrero) and Érika Lührs (Tourism promotion secretary of Acapulco), the two women met with Acapulco’s mayor, Miguel Añorve Baños. From this meeting emerged the news that the two tourism agencies will be working together to make Acapulco’s Tianguis Turístico a reality. The annual event, which was founded in 1976, was commandeered earlier in the year by the federal tourism secretary, Gloria Guevara, and moved to Puerto Vallarta/Riviera Nayarit for the year 2012. Acapulco and Guerrero will now be launching their own Tianguis Turístico, without aid or involvement of the federal government, to continue the 36-year tradition.

Báez and Lührs said in a joint press release, “The priority is to recover Acapulco’s image as a safe and secure destination, clean and in order.” The state government has formally registered the trademark “Tianguis Turístico de Acapulco.” The tourism chiefs also announced that Acapulco would participate on its own n the International Tourism Fair of the Americas (FITA) in Mexico City in September.

The reconciliation of the two tourism secretaries came after differences had emerged between them concerning how to handle Gloria Guevara’s hijacking of the Tianguis Turístico in Acapulco. PRI party loyalists in Acapulco had openly criticized the appointment of Báez to the State position. At one point, Báez refused to allow Lührs to participate in a meeting, and this created an impossible atmosphere between two officials who are virtually required to work together.