The states of the Central West Pact for Tourism foresee a good summer season, with occupations close to pre-pandemic levels driven by road trips, a segment that the six entities that make up the alliance have sought to attack together since August of the year. past.
Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí and Zacatecas are working to promote their tourism offer together, after the COVID-19 pandemic caused a drop in travel in the country. Together, the six states concentrate 34 Magical Towns and 20 million inhabitants, so the attractions are varied.
“This pact was a response to a disconcerting situation that did not have a solution formula,” said Marco Aurelio Hernández, Aguascalientes tourism secretary, during the Expansión Women Economic Forum.
The states have found a point of exposure for their various attractions.
While Aguascalientes is committed to a gastronomic and cultural offer – led by the San Marcos Fair, whose return is expected in 2022 – Guanajuato trusts in the reactivation of segments such as wedding tourism, while Zacatecas has its stronghold in the capital, a city Cultural Heritage by UNESCO.
In the case of Aguascalientes, hotel occupancies are around 55% from 70%, which was the standard before the pandemic. Zacatecas maintains occupations of up to 50% from 65%, while Guanajuato oscillates in occupations of around 60%.
“The great challenge, and that is why the six states worked together, was first to generate a promotional strategy to encourage interstate tourism, and the next steps are to attack the national market,” explained Eduardo Yarto Aponte, Zacatecas Secretary of Tourism
In the long term, the goal is to attack more distant objectives, for which the entities rely on female talent that, beyond the secretariats, leads the composition of the tourism productive sector.
In Aguascalientes, 64% of the tourist productive force is made up of women, while in Guanajuato they are two-thirds, and in Zacatecas the index reaches 60%.
“What we need in Mexico is for women to believe in what they are capable of doing. The talent is there, it is evident; It doesn’t matter if you talk about gastronomy or someone who runs a company. We have clear evidence of women who lead business associations, productive sectors and have very important social leadership, ”said Juan José Álvarez Brunel, Guanajuato’s secretary of tourism.
