MEXICO CITY (Expansion) – For this year 2017, Guanajuato’s Secretariat of Tourism expects 6% more national and foreign visitors than in 2016, authorities also expect to consolidate different tourism sectors throughout the state and diversify the traveler’s coutries of origin.
In 2016, 25.1 million national and international tourists visited the state of Guanajuato, which represents an annual growth of 11%, and a significant economic spill of 83,500 million pesos (3.9 million USD), said Fernando Olivera, Guanajuato’s Secretary of Tourism.
In an interview with Expansión magazine, Olivera declared that, “We are working on several projects to develop the tourism sector and boost the economy of Guanajuato, through various touristic routes and circuits; which have allowed us to diversify our tourism offer in the state. Five years ago it would’ve been difficult to think in developing a route promoting wine, or tequila, nevertheless, today it is a reality”.
It should be noted that San Miguel de Allende is the strongest touristic brand in the state, today. It is cataloged as Magic Town (Pueblo Mágico), and has been chosen by high-end hotel brands such as Rosewood to open boutique hotels, and we expect that trend to prevail.
“Luxury tourism sector is having a notorious growth in the center of San Miguel de Allende , with significant investment in specialized boutique hotels and state-of-the-art gastronomic centers, among other exclusive establishments, that are positioning San Miguel as a high level tourism destination” added Olivera.
“The strong development, that we can see in San Miguel de Allende, boosts other areas such as Dolores, Comonfort and Mineral de Pozos, complementing the attractions’ offer for travelers with high purchasing power”.
“Likewise, the Guanajuato State Government seeks to strengthen other tourism segments such as the so-called “Romance tourism”, promoting SMA as a wedding destination; as well as “Sports Tourism” that now represents only 6% of this sector, and improve the traditional segments such as culture travel and conventions in places like Celaya or León.” continued the Tourism Secretary.
Finally, Olivera Rocha explained that, although the growth will be lower than in previous years, they expect that Guanajuato will continue to receive high level tourism from the United States, and stated that tourism authorities will continue to work on attracting more tourists from Japan, that are flocking into the state, due to their participation in the automotive sector.
Source: http://expansion.mx