“We are building direct communication links with cruise lines and cruise industry associations, and we are holding meetings with them, working on what we want to build to have higher cruise arrivals,” said Carlos Joaquin Gonzalez, undersecretary in the Mexican Ministry of Tourism.

“In this government, we realize it is essential to promote the most attractive cruise destinations and to improve the tourist shore experience, in addition to the perception of safety.”

Gonzalez outlined five policy guidelines: Interagency coordination, orderly growth, maximization of social and economic benefits, safety, and destination differentiation. He said these guidelines are part of the National Tourism Policy 2013-2018 and will be released soon.

“Cruise tourism is an essential ingredient of the Mexican tourism product to help us recover what we have lost in the last few years due to public perception, sailing distances and product offerings,” he said.

 One of the immediate challenges is to strengthen the country’s tourism on the Pacific side and have the cruise lines return to the ports where they contributed to creating thousands of jobs
“We are working very hard across the board to revive the Mexican Riviera cruise industry,” Gonzalez added.

“Our secretary of tourism is very committed to cruise tourism, and we are working to make Mexico a world class destinations for cruises. I believe the commitment of the new government is encouraging to cruise lines so they will continue to see Mexico as a main player and reverse the recent West Coast trend.”

>> Also in this section: Six page analysis of the Mexican cruise market including opportunites and challenges facing the ports.

Excerpt from Cruise Industry News Quarterly Magazine: Winter 2013/2014