In the framework of the International Trade Fair of the Convention Tourism Industry in Latin America (IBTM) 2019, on Wednesday May 29th, the “Yucatán Meetings” project was officially presented, a strategy that seeks to promote the state as an attraction for convention and meetings tourism.
In the event, which was held in Mexico City, the State Secretariat of Tourism Development (Sefotur) made 315 business appointments and launched the aforementioned strategy, which will be responsible for selling the destination and include all venues, public and private spaces that have the right characteristics for the development of the convention tourism segment.
In this way, “Yucatán Meetings” has the possibility of marketing and managing the International Congress Center (CIC), where the World Summit of Nobel Peace Prizes will be held next September; as well as the Yucatán Siglo XXI Convention Center, which will grow from 10,628 to 22,155 square meters. This expansion and renovation work will be finished for the 45th edition of the Tourism Tianguis in 2020.
The scheme has so far achieved more than 100 events for 2019, 12 more for 2020 and 2 for 2021. This initiative left an economic spill of nearly 1.1 billion pesos during 2018, 14 percent more than in 2017.
On the other hand, the number of attendees increased by 98 percent. Just the Siglo XXI Convention center alone, hosted eight major conventions, for a total of 16,699 people and with a value of 108.8 million pesos.
On average, visitor spending increased between 150 and 200 percent, which is signficantly higher than recreational tourism, since convention attendees spend an average of $15,247 pesos per stay, which is obviously good for the local economy.
The Yucatan Times Newsroom
