Miguel Torruco Marqués concludes his successful management at the head of Sectur

Also accompanied by the director of the Department of Affiliate Members of UN Tourism, Ion Vilcu; the director of the Regional Department for the Americas of UN Tourism, Gustavo Santos; and the president of the Association of Secretaries of Tourism of Mexico (Asetur), and Secretary of Tourism of Nayarit, Juan Enrique Suárez del Real Tostado; the head of Sectur pointed out that in the tourism field, the president instructed him to make tourism a tool for social reconciliation, because it captures foreign currency, generates jobs and, above all, stimulates economic growth and promotes fair and balanced regional development with good practices.

“By constitutional mandate, our enormous responsibility at the head of the federal Ministry of Tourism comes to an end, a task assigned to me by the best president of Mexico, my friend, Andrés Manuel López Obrador,” said Torruco Marqués.

He stressed that, during his administration, there were extremely difficult times with the pandemic, which radically changed the profile of tourists, who now look for green spaces to be in contact with nature, and are more interested in culture and art, such as museums, artistic expressions, archaeological sites, crafts from indigenous communities, and of course, delighting in gastronomy, which, in the case of Mexican cuisine, is an Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

He mentioned that, according to data from UN Tourism, formerly the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), at the height of the pandemic, the world fell by 73%, the 20 economic tourism powers recorded a contraction of 77%, and Mexico only showed a decrease of 46%, which allowed it to be the first country to recover.

For this reason, the Secretary General of UN Tourism, Zurab Pololikashvili, visited Mexico on June 29, 2021 to present a well-deserved recognition to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador at the National Palace, for having been the head of state who best implemented a tourism policy during the pandemic.

Torruco Marqués expressed his satisfaction for having fulfilled his duty, among other reasons, for having stopped, together with a talented team of collaborators, and with the support of the private sector, represented by leaders of chambers, confederations and tourism associations, the loss of position of Mexico in the international scenario in terms of foreign currency collection and per capita spending, which is how the tourism potential of a nation and the benefit to the local population should be measured.

He reported that this year will close with the highest figures recorded in the history of tourism in our country, since, according to the results of the first eight months, an income of 33 thousand 450 million dollars will be reached from international visitors, the highest figure recorded in the history of tourism in our country. 

The crusade for the digitalization of the Ministry of Tourism was also launched, with which the DataTur platforms were modernized, updating more than a million data, and the National Tourism Registry (RNT). Likewise, the Ángeles Verdes program, the longest-running of the federal public administration, was rescued and modernized with the creation of the Geointelligence Center.

At the same time, new products were created and a high-end market niche with great purchasing power that had not visited us was attracted.

He stressed that Foreign Direct Investment in Tourism, from 2019 to the second quarter of 2024, was just over 13,207.3 million dollars, 122% higher than the 2013-2018 period, with the United States, Spain, Canada, the United Kingdom and France being the main investing countries.

He highlighted the public and private investment in tourism infrastructure, which exceeds 46 billion dollars, the highest amount in the last 60 years; emphasizing that public investment in support of tourism did not mean any indebtedness for the public treasury.

“As a historical fact, I share with you that from 1956 to 1975, there were seven heads of the Autonomous Department of Tourism, of which Agustín Salvat lasted the entire six-year term, from 1964 to 1970; and from 1975 to date, we have had 16 Secretaries of Tourism, and only two have remained for the six years of a presidential term: Antonio Enríquez Savignac, from 1982 to 1988 and myself, from 2018 to 2024, which fills me with great satisfaction. In addition, I am the first graduate of the Tourism career, which represents another reason for pride,” he commented.

He pointed out that, throughout these 68 years of institutional life, the heads of the branch have an average stay of three years in office.

“I feel very honoured that the highest authority in world tourism, the Secretary General of UN Tourism, Zurab Pololikashvili, is the one to place my portrait next to those of my predecessors, in this Gallery of Honour in the Emilio Portes Gil Hall, former President of Mexico, who in 1929 created the Pro-Tourism Commission, the first federal executive body in charge of guiding, orienting and directing national tourism policy, and which today is the Ministry of Tourism,” concluded the Secretary of Tourism.

For his part, the Secretary General of UN Tourism, Zurab Pololikashvili, praised the work of the Secretary of Tourism, Miguel Torruco Marqués, whom he considers a great leader who has done much for tourism in Mexico and world tourism, for which he extended an invitation to collaborate with UN Tourism.

“Today we celebrate his great work for this country. During the pandemic, he showed us leadership in how to do things and we followed his ideas, and we will continue to listen to him. I learned a lot from him personally,” he said.

He added that he has always accompanied him to various international tourism fairs, and will be present at major events, especially the upcoming World Cup.

The event was also attended by the head of the Federal Ministry of Tourism's Undersecretary, César Garizurieta Vega; as well as the heads of the Unit and general directors of the agency, among other special guests and the media.

Source: SECTUR.