It has only been five odd months since his appointment, but Mexico’s new President, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has already dropped the hammer to reshape the country’s tourism industry.
A few of his actions, which has left the country shell shocked are:
- Cancellation of the ongoing expansion project of Mexico’s International Airport.
- Dissolution of the Mexican Tourism Board, aka Consejo.
- International tourism responsibilities were transferred from the secretary of tourism to the secretary of foreign affairs.
- Re-routing of Consejo’s funds to build a ‘Maya train’ to less populated areas of the country.
While initially, his actions seemed to be taken from a lack of basic understanding of the importance that tourism sector plays in the country, evidence has now begun surfacing which indicates otherwise.
After appointing Ignacio Cabrera as the new director-general of international tourism promotion, a meeting was set up on May 2nd, between the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and representatives of domestic tourism from the private sector. Emphasis was put on uplifting the underdeveloped areas in order to promote the social status of unorganized workers.
On 6th May, the president openly talked about developing the tourism industry in his daily press conference. He also announced the initiative of drafting a plan to promote international tourism in the country.
Ignacio Cabrera, a former architect has been handled the responsibility of drafting the plan which involves working with different ministries and focuses on promoting the country’s tourism while keeping the people’s social welfare in mind.
Although many still disagree with the underlying philosophy in which the country’s tourism industry is being reinvented, the President is much more focused on the welfare of the less fortunate than the tourism sector’s contribution to the country’s economy.
Developing the country’s tourism industry whilst keeping several issues such as security, environmental concerns, and social welfare might be a tough job, but the President is ready to take his chances in order to bring about such huge change.
