Mexican Vacation Ownership Associations Helping to Develop Sustainable Tourism Model

June and July were busy months for conferences in Mexico, beginning with ACLUVAQ’s 7th Annual Sales and Marketing Forum in Cancun – Themed as The Vision for Tomorrow. The regional conference attracted hundreds of attendees seeking to learn and exchange ideas with leaders including the National Secretary of Tourism, Enrique De la Madrid who fielded questions directly from the audience about a large range of subjects, such as regional tourism expansion and standardization of benefits for VO employees and OPC’s.

ASUDESTICO also held its 4th Annual Sales and Marketing Conference in Los Cabos at the Sheraton / Hacienda Del Mar. The association presented certificates to over a dozen graduates of the University hospitality program. The NTOA presented a regional snapshot of the Mexican Timeshare Owners Study, which illustrated significant reputation management opportunities and improvement in owner perceptions for the region. Ernesto Coppel Kelly, shared the story of his rise from poverty to build a billion-dollar company. His book, “The Creation of Pueblo Bonito” is an autobiography of his life’s work in vacation ownership.

AMDETUR celebrated its 30th anniversary in Puerta Vallarta at the Sheraton Resort and Conference Center. A large number of national and international associations attended and paid tribute to the special milestone and history of the organization. Those included from Mexico, the National Business Tourism Council and from the United States and Canada, CEO’s from the American Resort Development Association (ARDA), the Canadian Vacation Ownership Association (CVOA), the Cooperative Association of Resort Exchangers (CARE) and the National Timeshare Owners Association (NTOA). Several federal and state officials also participated in the opening ceremonies of the conference including Enrique De la Madrid Cordero, the Secretary of Tourism, Jorge Aristoteles Sandoval Diaz the Governor of Jalisco and Roberto Sandoval Castaneda the Governor of Nayarit.

Mexico is experiencing tremendous growth in all sectors of tourism with vacation ownership leading the way and offering tourists incredible destinations, world class resorts, extraordinary historical and archeological sites and cultural heritage. To continue to sustain growth and guest service levels, the Mexican government at the regional, state and federal levels have a continued commitment to working with the development community in expanding the competitive infrastructure of tourism areas. In addition, developer associations are investing heavily in education and implementing “best practices” in areas like customer service and hospitality management for their members. Check in with us next month, as we bring you more resort development news and information happening in Mexico.