Velas Resorts: Passion for Tourism and portrayal of the Truth about Mexico

by Vanessa Martínez del Río

Velas Resorts: Passion for Tourism and portrayal of the Truth about Mexico

Tourism in Mexico continues to grow, and over the past year the number of visitors to our country surpassed 22 million people. However, this number could have been higher had it not been for the alarming attention called to drug cartel violence along the U.S.-Mexico border and the resulting diffusion of an unsafe image of the entire country by the press.

During an interview with Forbes Magazine, Vice President of Velas Resorts Juan Velas Ruiz mentions that “although there is still a negative perception out there about all of Mexico being insecure”, it is clear that “people are getting better informed”. Under the titled “Mexico Discovers the Power of Social Media”, Forbes reviews the convincing efforts by public organizations as well as strategies in the private sector to “neutralize” the bad publicity; the answer: a combination of new and old school that promotes visitor testimonies on social networks, which have had very effective results for Vela Ruiz’ resort group.

An aspect worth highlighting is the geography of Mexico; while in certain states there is a high occurrence of violence, there are also very safe destinations such as Cancun, located as far from Tamaulipas (one of the areas included in a security alert emitted by the US State Department) as Texas is from New York.

The numbers of content expats also speak for themselves in Mexico, as 2.5 million retirees from the United States, Canada and Europe currently reside in cities such as Merida and Puerto Vallarta and greatly contribute to the local economy, to which the Vice President of  Velas Resorts adds, “Public spending on infrastructure has directly benefited the tourism industry, improving people’s experience”.

Insofar as far as shedding light on the true state of affairs in Mexico, social networks are perhaps Mexico’s Tourism Board’s best bet. Tourism officials are conscious of the importance of the internet and how common it is nowadays for travelers to compare all published online content regarding a destination or hotel before making their selection. One of their projects, “Mexico Taxi” utilizes a hidden camera to record comments made by travelers during their taxi ride upon returning home, with the intention of using the viral effect of the videos to change the world’s perception of traveling to Mexico and help potential visitors understand “that visiting world heritage sites like the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza in the Yucatán is as safe as a trip to Belgium”.