Mexico motivates great interest for Canadian tourists with connectivity and product

As part of the Operación Toca Puertas tour in Calgary, Canada, the delegation led by the Secretary of Tourism of the Government of Mexico, Miguel Torruco Marqués, held a meeting with executives of WestJet Airlines, who expressed their great interest in increasing the number of frequencies , routes and destinations to our country, representing an important market for Canadian tourists abroad.

Accompanied by the Consul General of Mexico in Calgary, Mario Enrique Romero Morales, the head of the Ministry of Tourism (Sectur) and the Mexican delegation participating in this tour spoke with Alexis von Hoensbroech, CEO; Andrew Gibbons, Vice President of International Affairs; Jared Mikoch-Gerke, Director of Government Relations and Regulatory Affairs; and John Weatherill, COO of the airline; where they agreed to work closely to strengthen the existing air connectivity between Mexico and Canada.

Torruco Marqués indicated that, in 2023, the offer of scheduled seats from Canada to Mexico is 3 million 264 thousand seats, this represents 27% more than in 2022; in 17 thousand 24 scheduled flights, which means 26.7% more than last year.

He reported that specifically from Calgary, the arrival of passengers to Mexico in 2022 was 255,133, on 1,586 flights; In addition, in the first half of 2023, 189,873 passengers arrived in our country, on 1,154 flights, which represents a growth of 54% and 37.4% more, respectively, compared to the same period last year.

He pointed out that, in 2022, WestJet was one of the main airlines with Canada-Mexico-Canada routes, with 32.9%; figure that it maintains for the period January to June of this year.

The delegation that attends Operation Toca Puertas toured the airline's offices and facilities, where they were able to verify the important technological advances and the elements that are part of its fleet, with which it provides an efficient service to its passengers.

As part of the Operation Toca Puertas tour in Calgary, the Secretary of Tourism held a meeting with the Minister of Tourism and Sports of Alberta, Joseph Schow; and with Benjamin McKay, Chief of Staff of this Ministry, with whom he strengthened cooperation ties to boost the flow of tourists to this Canadian province to which the city of Calgary belongs.

They discussed the priority projects undertaken in the current administration to diversify tourist activity towards the different tourist destinations in Mexico, which have a wide cultural, natural, historical and gastronomic offer of interest to the Canadian traveler, and with which the economic flow to the communities, in compliance with the instruction of the president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to make tourism a tool for social reconciliation.

The Mexican delegation in Operation Toca Puertas had a meeting with David Goldstein CEO of Travel Alberta; Tannis Gaffney, Director of Marketing; and Darlene Fedoroshyn, Director of Business Development and Destination Promotion; with whom they talked about the experiences and strategies implemented during and after the pandemic.

David Goldstein highlighted the importance of opening new channels for promotion in important markets that have been affected by the pandemic. He spoke about the work to activate internal tourism and now about the stage to promote international tourism, where Mexico is a very important market, for which joint cooperation schemes and priority tourism products were agreed upon in both destinations.

Before more than 100 members of the Mexican community in Calgary, the head of Sectur presented the Reencounter with My Roots program, whose purpose is to motivate the desire to travel to their place of origin, or to that of their parents or grandparents, at the same time, recognize the contribution they make to the promotion of Mexico abroad.

In this vein, Torruco Marqués awarded recognitions to outstanding Mexican women who have elevated the name of our country in Calgary and Canada, including R omina Romo Campuzano, chef instructor at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT); Elizabeth Vigueras, director of the Ireri-Mexican, Latino & Crosscultural Society; Rossana Capdepont, regional manager of International Operations for Flair Airlines; the painter Sharina Fong; as well as Verónica Méndez de Luna.

Also, with the director of Explore Edmonton, Nancy Jackson, they analyzed the trends and perspectives of tourism, with the purpose of strengthening the bilateral relationship and the areas of opportunity that encourage the flow of tourists, through promotion and communication strategies, to mention a few. .

On the Operación Toca Puertas tour in Calgary, Canada, the Secretary Miguel Torruco Marqués is accompanied by the Undersecretary of Tourism, Humberto Hernandez Haddad; Emmanuel Romain Ernest Rey, General Director of Promotion and International Affairs of Sectur; Juana María Ruiz Martínez, seconded consul, of Mexico in Calgary; Saymi Adriana Pineda Velasco, Secretary of Tourism of the State of Oaxaca; Jorge Padilla Castillo, Undersecretary of Tourism of the State of Colima; Rebeca Bravo Carranza, president of the Cancun Downtown Hotel Committee, of the Cancun, Puerto Morelos and Isla Mujeres Hotel Association; Víctor Manuel Enríquez, president of the National Council of Tourist Services Exporters AC (Conexstur); the general director of Seven Tours Mexico, Rosa Isela Estrada Gutiérrez; Ricardo Segovia Gasque, Chairman of the Board of Directors Grupo Médico Costamed; René Luis Rodríguez Cano, CEO of Ketzaltour; among others.