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 ESTADO de QUINTANA ROO
Interview with
Sr. Guillermo Martinez Flores,
Minister of Tourism of Quintana Roo.
19th February 2000
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Can you give us a brief insight of the developments of tourism here in Cancun throughout the past couple of years?
Talking about Cancun is talking about the most successful touristic destination that we have in Mexico and one of the most successful in the Caribbean. Quintana Roo, because of its geographical situation, is the only Mexican state that touches the Caribbean. We have grown tremendously. In 1998 we had 457 hotels with more than 37000 hotel rooms. In one year the number of hotels went up to 542 with a total of 44000 hotel rooms. The major growth that we have had has been in the area called La Riviera Maya as well as in Cancun, among other important destinations as Cozumel, Isla Mujeres, Chetumal, La Costa Maya, Puerto Morelos, (Bacalar, Cohunlich) and Carrillo Puerto. We have had a very interesting growth in the number of visitors coming to the state. In Cancun only, that number grew 5.8% in comparison with last year and in the state 4.7% which is more than the double of the average growth that tourism industry has registered around the world according to the OMT.
What have been the main contributors to this growth?
We are working very hard in combination with the private sector, with the hotel associations and the intermediary organizations. Our main task is right now to show that the state of Quintana Roo has a lot to offer besides Cancun. Cancun has absorbed the major attention and we have to balance the equation in behalf of the welfare of the rest of the state. The area around Chetumal, located in the southern part of the state, has a great potential in terms of investment for tourism development. We have been attracting investors and consumers to a state where tourism represents 70% of its income and that contributes with the 38% of the national foreign currency securing, in order to distribute equitably business opportunities.
What is the strategy followed for promoting all this opportunities among investors?
We are very conscious about ecology so we are examining our laws and updating them. According to that we are in the process of establishing an inventory of all the areas susceptible of being developed touristically throughout the state. We will be presenting through our web-site and trough presentations and trade-shows around the world all the opportunities and new attractions that Quintana Roo is offering. We are more than just sea, sun and sand. We have archeological sites, adventure tours, natural parks, theme-parks and a great Mexican cuisine among many other charms. We want this to be a multi-destination state. The coordination between the federal government and the municipalities is working in order to avoid stepping over each other, providing then a great security to investors. We have had in the last couple of years a lot of European investments coming in, mostly Spanish, and that has been possible because we have shown how sure is to invest and make business in Quintana Roo.
What would you consider still as gray areas for investors to which the government should attract more attention?
The opportunities are wide, and not only in the hotel industry. We require services and infrastructure as far as equipment for the cities and the areas of growth is concerned. Areas as La Riviera Maya or Cancun which annual rates of growth in terms of population are 20% and 13% respectively. We do not have gray areas we have opportunities.
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What do you think is going to be the impact for the tourism industry of the free trade agreement between Mexico and Europe?
Already a significant part of the market is fully filled by Europeans and I think that with this agreement, communication between the two parts will be improved bringing to light much greater opportunities for the tourism industry.
Could you tell us about the huge "Port of Cancun" project?
In fact FONATUR is the office from the federal government in charge of the "Port of Cancun" project but we are backing up all the efforts made. With this project, great scale nautical tourism will be possible. In the region of Costa Maya we are carrying out another project which involves also the possible managing of cruise-ships. Right now Cozumel is the number one destination in Mexico in terms of receiving cruisers.
Some people mentioned the concern of Cancun growing too fast for the development of infrastructure like education, health care and others. Are you in the ministry aware of that?
We are very much aware of that. With the development that we have had, with the great number of people coming to inhabit this area, with the rates of population growth that we have, it is sure that a lot of new infrastructure is needed. We are already working arduously with the private sector, establishing the hospitals and the schools that areas like Cancun are claiming for. I invite your readers to contact us and we will discuss about investment possibilities; we will all be benefited.
Where do you see Cancun in three or five years time?
In three years everyone will be amazed. I have been living in Cancun for 25 years, and I have seen this place pass from being a fistful of coconut plantations to something I never imagined before. There is something magical about this area, and that is the reason why we adopted the slogan "Cancun: The Magic Word". That magic consists in the wide variety of opportunities that this place offers to honest people who come to work in good faith.
On a more personal level, could you tell us a little bit about your background?
I was born in Mexico City and I stayed there until the age of eleven. My parents, who were involved in the tourism industry decided that Mexico City was very hectic, so back in the 60’s we moved to Mérida, Yucatán. In the year 1974, after working with my parents in the family business I moved to Cancun looking out to establish my own business. I finally opened a travel agency in 1975. Only very recently, in fact last April, I was invited by Joaquín Hendricks, the governor of Quintana Roo to be part of the Ministry of Tourism of the state.
What is your final message to our readers?
I invite your readers and everyone who’s interest is the tourism industry and everything that has something to do with it, to invest here. They will have the security that offers a government that is willing to cooperate in order to facilitate all the procedures needed to establish a business, a government that will help you decide and that will assist anyone who needs further information.
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© World INvestment NEws, 2000.
This is the electronic edition of the special country report on Mexico published in Forbes Global.
July 3rd 2000 Issue.
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MEXICO
