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MEXICO SETS
FORTH PLANS TO REACTIVATE ITS
TOURISM INDUSTRY
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President Calderon announces
fiscal and financial stimulus
measures for Mexico’s tourism
industry by creating special
funding for tourism promotion
with an initial contribution of
2.2 billion pesos (approximately
165 Million Dollars)
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The Mexico Tourism Board is
designing a plan to reactivate
tourism and launch a new
external branding and
promotional campaign
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The World Health Organization (WHO)
is not restricting travel in
relation to the outbreak of H1N1
Influenza.
Mexico City, Mexico- May 8th 2009-
Mexico’s President, Felipe Calderon,
announced that he will enable
extraordinary fiscal and financial
measures for the tourism industry
with the main objective of
accomplishing a fast reactivation
for the country’s tourism. In a
message to the nation, the President
stated that a promotional campaign
with the main goal of winning back
the trust of international tourists,
will soon take effect.
Mexico’s government is working
intensely for the return of normalcy
in the country and in the hopes that
that tourists will soon return to
Mexico and take advantage of the
country’s beauty and excellent
lodging, leisure, entertainment and
hospitality that only Mexico can
offer.
During a recent press conference,
the Secretary of Treasury and Public
Credit stated that they will offer
fiscal incentives to tourism
companies, such as a 50% reduction
of costs towards the use of air
space and cruise ports for the next
three months as well as a discount
of 20% in management quotas paid to
the Mexican Institute of Social
Security (IMSS).
These and other actions form part of
the government’s financial stimulus
plan which in total add up to 17.4
billion (approximately 1.3 Billion
dollars).
The measures taken to prevent the
virus from spreading have caused a
huge economic impact and are
critical to the tourism industry,
which is the country’s third source
of revenue. Nevertheless, Mexico
complied with federal and local
sanitary protocols and collectively
faced this crisis.
Upon the emergence of this new
virus, which had the potential of
turning into a pandemic, the Mexican
government acted responsibly in
respect to the health of its people
and in regards to the health of the
world’s population; Mexico’s
officials had a vision and the
strength to carry it out.
The World Health Organization (WHO),
along with US President Barack Obama,
and Chief of State, Jose Luis
Zapatero, have all recognized that
it is unfair to accuse Mexico of
overreacting and for taking
immediate effective actions aligned
with international sanitation
protocols.
In addition, last Tuesday, Secretary
General of the United Nations, Ban
Ki-Moon, stated that he would
petition governments to annul their
commercial and travel bans in place
due to the virus outbreak, unless
the restrictions were founded on
scientific evidence. Dr. David
Nabarro, Senior UN Coordinator for
Influenza, said countries must
explain to WHO their rationale for
such measures, and said that their
effectiveness is minimal at best. "We
want to be very clear that WHO is
not recommending travel restrictions
related to the outbreak of this
novel form of influenza," said
Nabarro. Both dignitaries’
statements are examples of the
efforts being made to create unity
amidst a global crisis.
Financial Institutions as solid as
Grupo Santander, have expressed
their optimism towards the adverse
situation in Mexico, stating “the
Mexican government has acted
magnificently in regards to this
health crisis,” confirmed President
Emilio Botin, “their actions have
been phenomenal, very different from
past incidents where action was
probably not as quick, but in this
occasion, fast action was taken with
real organized measures and the
country will come out of this crisis
a lot sooner than expected…the virus
will not affect Mexico’s economy in
the long-term,” he added.
Speaking about the current
international crisis, the banker
emphasized that “Mexico’s economy
has been coping pretty well during
this global crisis and it is much
better prepared in comparison to
other countries” “We will continue
to invest in Mexico,” assured Botin.
Source: Mexico Tourism Board
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