This is how Oaxaca seeks to recover international tourism

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The state is the second source of foreign currency income, after remittances from fellow citizens.

The Mexican state of Oaxaca is attending the Madrid International Tourism Fair, Fitur, these days with the aim of recovering the international tourism market after the break caused by the pandemic.

“We are here to recover the international market,” and especially the European market, of “great relevance for Mexico as a country, but even more so for Oaxaca,” Oaxacan Tourism Secretary Juan Carlos Rivera said in an interview with Efe.

Rivera, who has extensive experience in the position and in the sector, as a hotel entrepreneur, attends Ifema in Madrid, one of the main tourism fairs in the world, and where Mexico and its different states have a wide representation.

“For us it is the best fair in the world because it generates economic benefits for our state,” he said.

Oaxaca Fitur (Photo: Twitter/@SECTUR_GobOax)Oaxaca Fitur (Photo: Twitter/@SECTUR_GobOax)

If tourism for Mexico is an important source of income –it represents 8% of the GDP–, in Oaxaca, it doubles it, with 16.7%, and it is the second source of foreign currency income, after remittances from fellow citizens who they live in the United States, according to Rivera.

Hence the importance of boosting the sector after the break it suffered in the last two years due to the pandemic, although the blow was cushioned thanks to domestic demand.

“The national market is the one that has saved us the holiday seasons recently,” said the Secretary of Tourism of Oaxaca.

In fact, according to official sources, from January to August 2021, more than 97% of the tourism it received was Mexican.

CULTURE, SUN AND BEACH

Oaxaca Fitur (Photo: Twitter/@SECTUR_GobOax)Oaxaca Fitur (Photo: Twitter/@SECTUR_GobOax)

Oaxaca, in the south of Mexico, on the Pacific coast, presents various tourist offers at Fitur, ranging from the “Ruta del mezcal” , key in this state, with 93% of the production of the agaves with which it is made this drink, passing through its offer of sun and beach and cultural tourism.

On beaches, Puerto Escondido stands out, a paradise for surfers, the Manialtepec lagoon, with its luminescence or phosphorescence effects in its waters, or the bays of Huatulco.

Rivera also insisted that the authorities have tightened the biosafety protocols in the coastal municipalities. And for this reason “the tourist destinations with the lowest number of infections in the country have been the Oaxacan coasts,” he explained.

And regarding culture, the Secretary of Tourism explained that Oaxaca is the cradle of two important cultures in Mexico, the Mixtec and the Zapotec, which have contributed two large archaeological zones, Mitla and Monte Albán, declared Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. , next to the historic center of the state capital, Oaxaca.

In addition to presenting the tourist offer, Fitur offers the possibility of attracting investors for the sector, and in this sense, Rivera explained that they have had the opportunity to speak with various investors and announced that the Spanish company Riu “has ‘winked’ at the state of Oaxaca for a hotel investment in Huatulco”.

And he insisted: “We remain open to making proposals for investment in the economic development of Oaxaca, not just tourism.”

The Oaxaca Post