Merida among Travel+Leisure’s top five Mexican destinations to visit

For the second time, Merida is among the five best Mexican destinations to visit, according to the most prestigious magazine of the travel industry  “Travel & Leisure”, achievement that is thanks to the programs and investment made on tourist promotion by the Yucatan State government.

With a total of 971,000 copies per month and an audience of 6.3 million people between its print edition and its digital platforms, “Travel & Leisure” readers once again granted their preference to the capital of Yucatan, with a rating of 85.81, which ranked “The white City” in fourth place of the list that is topped by San Miguel de Allende, Oaxaca, Mexico City, Mérida and Guadalajara.

In the framework of the meeting of the State Consultative Council of this sector, the head of the Secretariat of Tourism Development (Sefotur), Saul Ancona Salazar, said that this the outcome of the strategies applied during the current state administration, which in coordination with The Tourism Promotion Council of Mexico (CPTM) has positioned Mérida, Yucatán as a world-class travel destination.

“Travel & Leisure” not only impacts on the travel intentions of the US market, but also of other parts of the world and its reach covers all age strata, from young people to senior citizens seeking new experiences to enjoy as a family,” Ancona Salazar said.

The official explained that the audience of the prestigious publication specializing in travel and considered international leader in the field placed Merida in the “The World’s Best Awards” this year, only five points behind San Miguel de Allende, with 91.94, close to Oaxaca, which scored 90.52 and Mexico City, with 87.65, and above Guadalajara, which occupies the fifth place with a score of 84.56.

The head of SEFOTUR said that this distinction is the result of several years of constant work to position the state  of Yucatán and especially the city of Mérida, in the mind of travelers worldwide.

He also explained that since 2013 and so far in 2018 more than 60 articles have been published on this important magazine, in order to capture the international market with reports on luxury tourism, romance, meetings and cultural travel, among other segments of the Yucatecan multi-destination.

“This is a great achievement that we share with the service providers of Yucatan and the Tourist Promotion Council, in that great synergy that we have achieved to promote the state as never before and that today yields excellent results,” Ancona Salazar continued.

In this regard, he stressed that it is not only about appearing in the best magazines, but also demonstrating the tangible results of that work.

The Secretary of Tourism Promotion also recalled that thanks to the dissemination strategy, Yucatán has received other distinctions such as:

• Best Destination for Congresses and Conventions in the country, granted by the Conventions of Latin America magazine.
• Best Gourmet Destination in Mexico, endorsed by the publication Food and Travel.
• Fifth Best Destination to Visit in Latin America, by Travel & Leisure.

It has also been listed as the Best Destination in Mexico, according to Food and Travel, among other appointments obtained in just the last two years of this administration.

It was also recognized as the fourth place among the 10 best places in the world to travel in 2017, granted by Lonely Planet, sharing the honor with cities such as Bordeaux in France, Cape Town in South Africa, Pistoia in Italy and Lisbon in Portugal.

Finally, Yucatan was the third place in the top list of the five best tourist destinations in the world designated by the prestigious Forbes.com web portal, along with Havana, Cape Town, Denver and Vancouver.

TYT Newsroom with information from yucatan.com.mx