Over the last decade,
Mexico has been
quietly developing an
assorted range of travel options that
stretch the boundaries of the common fun and sun vacation. In many ways, the
emergence of Mexico's special interest travel
choices are an inevitable development. As
Mexico's tourism infrastructure has
matured since the 1970's, so have consumer
buying trends, both in Mexico and
abroad, and thus the market for unique
travel experiences has blossomed.
Much of Mexico's development of alternative
leisure activities has been inspired
internally by Mexican consumer attitudes
toward leisure time, hobbies, and a willingness
to explore innovative travel experiences.
This has certainly been the case in
stimulating the development of Ecotourism,
spas, adventure travel, and many
outdoor recreational opportunities.
Changes in foreign travel patterns (mostly
American and Canadian, but also European)
have played a key role as well. As a
new generation of world travelers search
the planet for truly novel travel experiences,
Mexico gets its share of attention
due to its global standing as a vacation
mecca.
Perhaps Mexico's biggest challenge in
attracting more special interest visitors is
dislodging long held images of Mexico as a
"beach-only" tourism destination. To
address this issue, the Mexico Tourism
Board has developed programs and promotional
campaigns focused on broadening
consumer and travel agent attitudes
about Mexico's vacation options.
Behind this campaign is a committed (if
somewhat fragmented) group of private
sector developers and tour operators that
are able to deliver the diversified leisure
pastimes touted by tourism authorities.
Some of the specialized tours and activities
available today are thanks to Mexico's
infrastructure improvements. Super modern
highways, new airports, and worldclass
marinas have opened previously
inaccessible regions of the country. Complimenting
this development, established resort areas have evolved their offering of
leisure activities as a means of staying
competitive.
The result is a diverse assortment of novel
travel experiences that can easily and profitably
be sold by retail agents. Find an
area of interest and Mexico will probably
be able to deliver.
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