In this context, Travel2latam spoke with Miguel Aguiñiga Rodríguez, Secretary of Tourism of Baja California.
What are your expectations and objectives for participating in WTM today?
We are coming with very good expectations, taking into account three important factors. First, there is a direct British flight from London to San Diego. Tijuana is the border with San Diego, so it represents an opportunity for us. We have already seen that the English market comes to San Diego and does wine tourism and health and wellness tourism, where they go to get dental treatments, eye operations, bariatric surgeries. People fly and cross the border to do so. So, we already have a market that is starting, but we are coming to grow this relationship.
Secondly, we want to position ourselves within the European market by visiting two important fairs such as Fitur at the beginning of the year and WTM almost at the end. Being here today helps us to close a cycle of work, seeing important European tour operators again to close the relationship.
And third, we came to make a direct invitation to host the Tianguis Turístico 2025. Being here is a first-hand invitation for these tour operators and the international press to look at Baja California. These are the three important factors why it is so important to be present at WTM London.
Since you mentioned the Tianguis Turístico, what is it like to hold an event in Baja California?
We have had instructions from our governor on how to position Baja California as a world-class destination and we have worked hard on the topic of meeting tourism. We have a convention center with more than 10,000 square meters of platform that can host large events. Obviously, for Tianguis we are going to make it double in size with a mobile infrastructure, which is already under construction. I think that Tianguis presents a great opportunity for people to get to know us.
We have a mega region, and being able to visit two countries in one trip is something that is very complicated in Latin America, because the distances are very long. However, you can land in Tijuana, Los Angeles, San Diego and you can visit both southern California and Baja California or go as far as the south of the peninsula, which is Los Cabos. It is a different trip that becomes very important for meeting tourism because you can have a convention and then stay for a vacation, you can take the family and even go shopping in the U.S. and take the children to Disneyland California.
In terms of tourism, what are the four or five experiences that no one should miss in Baja California?
The visit to Valle Guadalupe, where we have more than 200 wine projects, is a fabulous experience. Second, the gastronomy. We have the most revolutionary gastronomy in Mexico, which is a fusion of flavors from all over Mexico as well as Asian influences. We have the largest Chinatown in Latin America in the city of Mexicali Capital. Third, whale watching in the Pacific Ocean, where the whales pass by and is a fabulous experience that begins in December until the end of February, where you see the entire migration that comes down from Alaska and comes to have their calves in the center of the peninsula.
It is also interesting to visit the Desert of the Giants on the Sea of Cortez side. We have two wonderful oceans, the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California, known as the aquarium of the world, which starts from San Felipe and goes down to Los Cabos.
I imagine that enriches the gastronomy you mention.
Absolutely, because we have the cold Pacific Ocean that gives us oysters, scallops, abalone, tuna, bluefin tuna; and on the other side, with the Gulf of California, there is a series of aquatic diversity that directly brings the sea to the plate.
What are the strategic markets that you have planned?
The city of London with a direct flight, and the Asian market with China and Japan, where we have direct flights to the city of Shenzhen and Beijing. We are in negotiations to achieve a direct flight from Japan.
The Spanish market has been growing quite interestingly, where efforts have been made from California Sur to have charter flights with Cóndor that arrive at Los Cabos, and from Los Cabos to Tijuana it is a 1 hour 20 minute flight with more than four daily frequencies, so it is becoming a very easy connection for the European who arrives, because they stay there for a few days, go up to Tijuana, live the experience and return to Los Cabos to return to Spain.
The Colombian market is also on the rise, it is one of the fastest recovering markets after the pandemic, and Baja California is becoming a destination that Colombians are enjoying.
How do they connect with South America?
Via Mexico City or Cancun. Cancun has a direct flight to Tijuana, it is a long flight but in the end you can connect in a good way, and we have more than 20 daily frequencies from Mexico City.
Overall, how has this year gone and what are your goals for 2025?
The truth is that we have had a fairly average 2024. We are going to close in line with 2023, which was a very good year, but we have to take into account that there were also external factors. There were elections in Mexico in the first half of the year and in the United States in the second half of the year.
We have seen a tendency to maintain last year's numbers, which are not bad because they are still above 2019, before the pandemic. So we are on a good trend in that sense.
I hope that by the second quarter of 2025 we will see a rebound in the United States markets, which are the ones that directly affect us the most. I also see the Tianguis announcement as very positive, because we have gained a lot of exposure internationally and I am sure that with the alliances we manage to make with different markets beyond California, they will be able to get to know the region and break with the seasonality, making us grow much more.