2022 will be dedicated to reinforcing the positioning and recognition of local cuisine, through different tourist promotion actions.
With the successful closing of the “365 days” campaign, “365 flavors in Yucatan” is presented, which will kick off the next World Day of Sustainable Gastronomy.
Mérida, Yucatán, March 25, 2022.- As part of the closure of “365 days in Yucatán”, one of the most successful tourism promotion campaigns, the activities and work plan for the Year of Yucatecan Gastronomy were presented. and the beginning of “365 flavors in Yucatan”, continuing with the strong impulse of Governor Mauricio Vila Dosal to this sector.
Accompanied by representatives of the main business chambers, associations, and organizations, both tourist and gastronomic in the state, the head of the Tourism Development Secretariat (Sefotur), Michelle Fridman Hirsch, reported the excellent results of the outgoing strategy, which emerged in phase III of the “Yucatán against Covid-19” plan, to reactivate local industry, within the framework of the #StayInYucatán scheme.
She highlighted that “365 days” aimed to encourage the local consumption of products, increase hotel occupancy and economic benefits, as well as habituate visitor consumption with a regular practice of biosafety protocols; experiences that cover the six tourist regions of the entity and more than 10 segments were considered, as part of the decentralization goal.
“The good news is that we not only encouraged local consumption, but also permeated the domestic market and, later, the international market, which was very well supported by foreign markets,” added the secretary, reporting the success of the aforementioned proposal, with more than 200 million impacts, through the diffusion on digital and traditional media.
Friedman highlighted that, since 2019, new experiences have been generated and, at the moment, more than 140 new products have been registered, and it was an incentive for service providers to create more and join. Also, it was recognized by local media as “The best promotion program”, during the Tianguis Turístico de México (TTM), in November 2021.
“I am convinced that this effort, together with others that we have carried out, hand in hand with the private sector, society, and the State Government, has been fundamental so that, today, we have the numbers we have, being January of 2022 the month with an unprecedented record in the arrival of visitors, exceeding pre-pandemic numbers”, he pointed out.
Regarding the above, he explained that it is the highest number of domestic visitors since Datatur began counting in 2004, so “we found, together with other circumstances, a hotel occupancy of more than 70% in Valladolid, among others”, and invited all Yucatecans or visitors to support the closing of the process.
Starting today, she underlined, the countdown of the last five days begins, with experience 361, panoramic flights; later, the Calzada de Los Frailes, in Valladolid; Tekax and its murals; the weaving of hammocks, in the Mayan village of Ek Balam, to the Arrecife de Alacranes, where responsible, sustainable and environmentally friendly tourism has always been encouraged.
All the information in this regard can be found in a section dedicated to the project, within the yucatan.travel website, with the catalog and inventory of the 365 detailed elements; thus, users can consult them, and find all the information they need about them.
For his part, Iván Rodríguez Gasque, president of the Mérida National Chamber of Commerce, Services and Tourism (Canaco-Servytur) and the Business Coordinating Council (CCE), said that, with recreational activities, Yucatán is ready to reach and exceed the levels of 2019, until reactivated at 100 percent.
In addition, he recognized the promotional work that Sefotur has undertaken, to motivate more people to get to know the territory or return for more, which can only be achieved with the creation of innovative models of promotion and integration of the business sectors that converge in this generous activity.
“From the business sector, we join in promoting and enriching promotional actions, because we know that it is the way to ensure that, throughout the year, airplanes and buses bring thousands of visitors to Yucatan; that hotel reservations are in demand, and their guests consume in restaurants, buy handicrafts, visit our shopping malls and all the great spillover that tourism generates, ”he added.
Fridman Hirsch took advantage of the occasion to announce that this is the Year of Yucatecan Gastronomy, moving from a 365-day campaign to this one. Even though, since the beginning of the administration, local cuisine has been considered a fundamental part of the destination, 2022 will be given special emphasis.
It will have a forceful, organized, and joint effort to promote this segment; We believe that, perhaps, there is no better way to narrate the identity and history of the area, than in its flavors and gastronomy, the secretary mentioned.
In addition to the Application of the Gastronomic Policy of Yucatan 2022, which was signed within the framework of the TTM 2021, the work plan in this regard includes the endorsement of the collaboration agreement “Gastronomic Ambassadors of Yucatan” and links with municipalities, dependencies and international entities, such as the UNWTO, the Gastronomic Tourism Laboratory (IICA) and the Aspen Institute.
Likewise, the sector was promoted as the axis of tourism development, with routes, markets, and related products, such as cooking classes, tastings, tastings, and experiences, among others, as well as involving a gastronomic element in each of the promotional activities that are made for the positioning of the area.
The foregoing includes the presentation at events outside the Peninsula, such as the San Marcos National Fair, next April, or the Brussels World Contest, as well as the holding of festivals and special meetings here, such as a Gastronomy Festival Contemporary, Yucatán for Peace, Meeting of Traditional Cuisine, Hokol Vuh and Tourism and Gastronomy Fair.
Likewise, both new and existing activities will be supported: Restaurant Week, 4 Seasons, Sibarita Club, special tastings, anniversaries, the first Taco Festival or those of Ceviche, Aguachile, and Seafood; Honey; Seeds and Recados; Ball Cheese, and Coconut, and the Ice Cream and Frozen Food Fairs; Corn; Chile and Cocoa; Tamale; GDP, and many more.
“It is an effort that seeks to include, diversify, decentralize, that seeks the endemic, the organic, the authentic, being a very noble segment, and in Yucatan, we have a great diversity of ingredients and dishes, we have a gastronomic narrative that few destinations in the world have, from the Mayan techniques and ingredients, and the different migrations, to the steps of other cultures in the region”, he stated.
He went on to explain that this type of tourism has a strong burden of sustainability, like the other actions carried out by the dependency, and will allow, during the economic recovery, in a very important way, to bring benefits to the communities that need it most, where produces many of the ingredients and supplies that are consumed in restaurants.
As a complement, to give continuity to the positioning campaigns, there will be a transition to “365 flavors in Yucatan”, with the hashtag #YucatánEsSabor, as a way to promote regional, seasonal and organic consumption, highlighting recipes, ingredients, and experiences that this land offers its visitors, as of June 18, World Sustainable Gastronomy Day.
During this presentation, the Letter of Commitment for the Application of the Gastronomic Policy of Yucatan 2022 was endorsed, which last November, within the framework of the 43rd edition of the TTM, was signed by representatives of different restaurants, producers, and service providers involved with this segment, and on this occasion, some more were added.
The presidents of the Special Tourism Commission of the State Congress, deputy Karla Vanessa Salazar González; Claudia Yamily González Góngora from the National Chamber of the Restaurant Industry and Seasoned Foods (Canirac) Yucatán; the Collective of Gastronomic and Tourist Professionals (Cogatuy), Álvaro Traconis Flores, and the Association of Restaurants and Gastronomic Services of Valladolid (Reserve), Diego Mantecón Ponce.
Also, Beatriz Eugenia Gómory Correa, from the Merida Business Center of the Employers’ Confederation of the Republic (Coparmex); Juan José Martín Pacheco, from the Mexican Association of Hotels (AMHY); David Escalante Lombard, from the Association of Tourism Promotion Agencies (Aaprotuy), and Eduardo Córdova Balbuena, state delegate before the National Chamber of Passenger and Tourism Motor Transport (Canapat).
Similarly, Aremy Mendoza, director of Women and Vulnerable Groups, on behalf of Jorge Andrés Díaz Loeza, head of the Rural Development Secretariat (Seder); Liliana Rodríguez, head of Marketing, by Antonio González Blanco, General Director of the Yucatecan Institute of Entrepreneurs (IYEM), and local businesswoman Tereza Cazola.
Finally, representatives of restaurants and producers from different parts of the entity: Kinich, Zamná, Principe Tutul Xiu, Pueblo Pibil, Wayané, Museum of Yucatecan Gastronomy, Picheta, La Lupita, Eladio’s and La Ría, along with traditional cooks from Oxkutzcab, Valladolid, Santa Elena, and Yaxunah, from the sour orange liqueur and from the Mucuyché hacienda, among others.
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