The Mexico Tourism Board is proud to once again take part in the largest incentive travel industry show of the America’s: The Motivation Show 2009 which returns to Chicago’s prestigious McCormick Place on September 29th through October 1st. Mexico will welcome more than 12,000 buyers and international suppliers at the Mexico Pavilion – one of the largest booths in the show.
The Motivation Show – the most important incentive travel exhibition in the United States – will allow Mexico to continue to position itself as one of the best world destinations for the meeting and conventions market
According to the International Congress & Convention Association (ICCA), Mexico has moved from 11th to 9th place in terms of number of attendees at conferences worldwide. This means that from 2008 to 2009, the number of attendees increased from 74,116 to 119,084, a significant boost of 6%. This shows that Mexico’s modern infrastructure, advanced technology, along with the friendliness and kindness of its people, partnered with its natural attractions, continues to lure the meetings market.
Mexico has many new and exciting developments on the rise including a variety of convention centers and exhibit areas opening now through 2010. Many are being constructed, remodeled or expanded throughout 12 cities. Mexico’s meetings industry is adapting to the needs of the market. In the Pacific Coast, most recently, the Puerto Vallarta International Convention Center opened with the capacity to host events with up to 7, 000 people. The Mazatlan International Center for 5,000 people will open in a few weeks. The convention center in Colima was renovated to increase its capacity to 1,000 people. The main venue in Guadalajara, Expo Guadalajara, was recently renovated and is now considered one of Latin America’s largest venues with 530,000 sq ft of exhibit and meeting space.
In the Northern region, the Convention Palace was opened in Zacatecas- an eco-friendly building with a capacity for more than 5,000 people. The convention center in Tampico was also redone and now it can hold events for up to 2,500 people. The city of Torreon will have a convention center in the next few years and in Monterrey, Cintermex will add eight meeting rooms to increase its capacity. In the Central region a new convention center will be opening in 2010 in Aguascalientes. The new convention center in Queretaro will open this year and it is expected to have a capacity for over 10,000 people. And in the Southeast, Ciudad del Carmen will have its own convention center that will be located close to the tourist area of Playa Norte, with a capacity for 1,140 people by 2010.
Among the most important sites for meetings and conventions in Mexico are: The World Trade Center and The Banamex Center in Mexico City, The Acapulco Convention Center, The Campeche XXI Convention Center, The Cancun Convention Center, The International Center for Business of Monterrey, and Expo Guadalajara; there are also hotels and other meeting sites in various cities along the country.
Related
Mexico recognizes the importance of this multi-billion dollar industry in which U.S. companies’ annual share accounts for 15 billion dollars spent on incentive travel alone. Hence, Mexico continues to stay on the vanguard of global incentive travel trends by adapting successful programs into the country’s tourism supply such as the implementation of 0% VAT Tax for congresses and conventions travel in 2005, the creation of Your Best Reward is Mexico in 2006 – a program which since has introduced Veracruz, Guadalajara and Campeche as certified incentive destinations.
All of these programs are a mere bonus to the already valuable and internationally favored Mexican destinations; this is proven by an Incentives & Meetings International 2007-2008 Reader’s Survey conducted by I&MI Media which demonstrates that Mexico is the 3rd most preferred incentive travel destination in the world.
www.visitmexico.com
Content from our partners
