Mexico's Tourism Secretariat announces eleven new magical towns

The Secretary of Tourism of the Government of Mexico, Miguel Torruco Marqués, chaired this morning the ceremony in which the appointment of eleven new Magical Towns was announced, the first of the current federal administration, with which there are already 132 localities of the country that they bear this denomination.

The populations that as of today join this important program of the Ministry of Tourism are:

Aguada Island, Campeche.

Zempoala, Hidalgo.

Ajijic, Jalisco.

Tonatico, State of Mexico.

Paracho, Michoacán.

Mexcaltitán, Nayarit.

Santa Catarina Juquila, Oaxaca.

Tetela de Ocampo, Puebla.

Santa María del Río, San Luis Potosí.

Peanut, Yucatan.

Sisal, Yucatan.

The head of Sectur, who participated in a virtual way, affirmed that talking about the Magical Towns is to refer us to localities that keep an enormous cultural and natural wealth, made up of a mosaic of folklore, architecture, tradition, languages, gastronomy, crafts and biodiversity, that give identity to Mexico.

He reiterated that, in accordance with a socially inclusive vision, tourism today is transformed and the Magical Towns cease to be an exclusive promotion program of the Secretariat under his charge, to become a national alliance, which expands the mechanisms of access to various programs of the Federal Government.

In this way, the participation of states, municipalities and, importantly, citizens is restructured; conditions that will give way to the sum of efforts to improve the quality of life of the host communities, while providing the best visitor experience.

"As I have pointed out on several occasions, domestic tourism will be the great engine in this stage of recovery of the tourism sector, and in this dynamic the Magic Towns are configured, today more than ever, as pillars of the regional and national economy," he said . 

He pointed out that, for this reason, the Ministry of Tourism recently published the call to obtain the appointment of Pueblo Mágico, so that new localities, selected through a rigorous technical process, are constituted as spaces that guard a part of our natural wealth and cultural.

"With this, Mexico now has 132 Magical Towns, which have begun a transformation process to consolidate themselves as top quality destinations and increasingly place themselves in the preference of national and foreign visitors," he said. 

Secretary Torruco Marqués stressed that one of the main objectives of Sectur is the promotion, commercialization and urban improvement of the Magic Towns, for which important alliances have been generated with the private initiative and work is being done on the conformation of a tourism digitization strategy to project them internationally.

He also stressed that within the framework of a new vision of tourism, coordination with various federal agencies is strengthened to promote well-being in tourist destinations.

He cited as an example that through the Ministry of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development (Sedatu), more than seven billion pesos were allocated to 41 cities with a tourist vocation, including Mexcaltitán, which, with a renewed image, now recovers the appointment of Magical Town that he had lost. 

De igual modo, con el apoyo de la Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT) se mejoraron 68 accesos carreteros a Pueblos Mágicos, alcanzando una inversión superior a los 560 millones de pesos. Esta tarea, que incluye reencarpetamiento de vialidades, señalización y pinta de la guía carretera, benefició a 47 Pueblos Mágicos ubicados en 19 estados de la República. 

Other actions are the extensions of the Zaragoza Canal and the Chetumal airport, carried out by the Secretary of the Navy (Semar) and the government of Quintana Roo, which will significantly benefit the Magical Town of Bacalar; the alliances established with Bancomext and Nafin for the financing of micro, small and medium enterprises in the Magic Towns, which contribute to the recovery of tourist activity; the Mayan Train, which represents a belt of socioeconomic integration and the most important tourist infrastructure project of the last fifty years, which will directly benefit the Magical Towns of the region; as well as the work carried out for the sustainable tourism development of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec,

There is also the race of "The Moctezuma Fish Route", which covers six states and eight Magical Towns; the expansion of the Tamuín airport, as part of the comprehensive tourist development program of the Huasteca Potosina; and the promotion of the Metropolitan Airport System, which will have three international airports: Mexico City, Felipe Ángeles and Toluca, which together will serve 66 million passengers in 2022 in a first stage. 

In addition to this, to stimulate tourism in the northern part of the country, the Barrancas del Cobre airport will soon be launched in the Magic Town of Creel, Chihuahua.

Finally, the head of Sectur exhorted all members of the tourism industry, both in the public and private sectors, "to unite our wills, talent and creativity, to consolidate the Magical Towns as a symbol of our national identity and, in this sense, work to improve its image and the living conditions of its inhabitants”.