The Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita and The St Regis Punta Mita Resort are prepared to host 500 dignitaries and leaders from the political and economic spheres of Peru, Colombia, Chile, Costa Rica and Mexico, as well as 150 members of the international media.

Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico. June 13, 2014 - CasaMagna Marriott Puerto Vallarta receives from Ian Johnson, CEO of Global OutNow the Out Now certification, during the Latin America's leading lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) travel business conference, taking place in this resort from the 12th to the 14th of June 2014.

Having obtained the Out Now Global certification means that 100% of the more than 430 employees working in the hotel have been trained to understand and provide the best customer service to the LGBT segment.

Demetrio Maduro, General Manager of Marriott Puerto Vallarta, said "All the staff at Marriott Puerto Vallarta feels honored of being selected as the host hotel for this important event, which brings to Puerto Vallarta business opportunities, training and networking to grow new markets through building relationships with buyers and customers of the LGBT segment. Mr. Maduro also commented that "Being one of the first hotels in Puerto Vallarta to receive the Out Now Certification is an honor and a commitment to continue providing our customers the service excellence they are expecting from us."

In addition to this certification, CasaMagna Marriott Puerto Vallarta is a "TAG Approved" hotel, member of the International Gay Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA, for its acronym in English) and offers the "Pride & Joy" package designed to our customers in this segment.

[readon1 url="http://www.luxurytravelmagazine.com/news-articles/dogs-are-vips-at-grand-velas-riviera-nayarit-21738.php"]Source:www.luxurytravelmagazine.com[/readon1]

The hashtag #RivieraNayarit trended on the domestic front, helping the social media platforms gain a considerable number of followers as well as great exposure.

The Riviera Nayarit’s first Twitter party was a smashing success with outstanding results. Its first objective—to get the #RivieraNayarit hashtag trending—was taken care of and the Riviera Nayarit’s presence on their social platforms grew with amazing speed last May 30th.

Basically, the Twitter party generated over two million impressions on this popular social media platform between mentions, tweets and retweets.

Halfway through the party, at 1:40 pm on May 30th, the account @tendencias_Mex, which measures trends in Mexico, posted that the #RivieraNayarit hashtag was trending domestically.

This was achieved through the different marketing strategies implemented by the Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) before, during and after the event, including boosts on Facebook in generating markets such as the Federal District, Aguascalientes, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Querétaro, the state of Mexico and, obviously, Nayarit.

Releases were also sent via email to the consumer database, business partners and diverse tourism service providers.

The Spanish-language Twitter account (@RivieraNayarit) gained an average of 30 new followers per month from January through April. However, May saw that number increase nine-fold to a total of 291 new followers, bringing the total number of followers to more than 8 thousand.

The Spanish Facebook language page had gained an average of 250 followers a month from January through April; May saw the number triple to 796 new “likes.” The total number of impressions reached over 350 thousand. Currently the page has over 16,600 fans.

The Riviera Nayarit’s YouTube channel nearly doubled its monthly views; it averages 11 thousand a month, in May it reached 20 thousand views.

This success would not have been possible without the support of the state authorities and the Riviera Nayarit Hotel Association’s Social Media Club.

The Riviera Nayarit CVB would like to extend a special thank you to the hotels that hosted the Twitter party, including Dreams Villamagna, Grand Velas, Four Seasons, St. Regis, Vallarta Adventures, Villa del Palmar Flamingos and Villa La Estancia.

Puerto Vallarta, June 12, 2014 – The Fourth edition of the LGBT Business Expo, Latin America’s leading LGBT business event, opened in Puerto Vallarta’s Marriott CasaMagna today with local and international leaders joining the celebration, including Joseph Mark Pomper,

Vacationing again! The newlyweds are reportedly enjoying another romantic getaway in Punta Mita.

The honeymooning is not over for Kim Kardashian and Kanye West!

Two weeks after tying the knot the happy couple have extended their newlywed bliss with a trip to Mexico, according to multiple reports.

The parents of North West are currently enjoying the sunny skies for their "official" honeymoon, sources told Us Weekly.

In new photos, the hot mama was spotted poolside in Puerto Vallarta sunbathing in a revealing white bikini next to her husband.

Kardashian and West are staying in a private residence, and are also reportedly celebrating the now 37-year-old rapper's birthday.

Mrs. West took to Instagram to wish her beau a very special heartfelt message Sunday.

"Happy Birthday to my husband and best friend in the entire world! You have changed my life in more ways than you know," the 33-year-old reality starlet sweetly wrote.

"The way you look at life inspires me! I love you so much!!!"

After the pair's lavish wedding ceremony on May 24 in Florence, the two jet-setted off to Ireland and Prague for their initial post-wedding vacation.

Reports swirled that Kardashian didn't have a good time due to the "gloomy" weather, however, the brunette beauty took to Twitter after she returned home to express that she had no qualms about the getaway.

"Had the best, most relaxing romantic honeymoon in Ireland & Prague!"

[readon1 url="http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/kim-kardashian-kanye-west-official-honeymoon-mexico-report-article-1.1825085"]Source:www.nydailynews.com[/readon1]

The St. Regis Punta Mita Resort and Punta Mita Expeditions are ready to welcome the II Annual Punta Mita Beach Festival, taking place July 17 – 20, 2014. The celebratory summer event takes full advantage of the renowned beachfront resort’s unparalleled destination.

	Photo courtesy of Thinkstock

Have you heard of Punta Mita?  The stars in Hollywood sure have.  Now apparently, Kimye (Kim Kardashian and Kanye West) have rented a house for Kanye’s 37th birthday. So where is this town that, according to sources, is a favorite spot of the Kardashian Clan and many others in the celebrity realm?

Location
About a 40 minute trip north from Puerto Vallarta sits the beach community of Punta de Mita.  Boasting 9.5 miles of beaches and surrounded on three sides by the Pacific Ocean, Punta Mita sits about the same latitude as the Hawaiian Islands. Temps average in the mid 80s for most of the year, yielding a very appealing but quiet getaway.

Getting There
Flights come to Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport in Puerto Vallarta daily.  The International Airport is capable of handling up to 40 flights an hour, and is currently expanding to add 6 more gates.  Transportation to your final destination can be arranged via car/van or rentals are available.  Four wheel drive vehicles are the most popular here.

Lodging
There are around ten choices for accommodations in Punta Mita.  The Four Seasons Resort offers suite and full villa rentals and the St. Regis offers a full array of rooms and suites as well. Hotel Cinco is a boutique hotel offers an organic living experience right on the surf beach. Some of the best deals are to be found on the Vacation Rentals side, where you can get a 5 bedroom, 8 bath, sleeps 10, oceanfront home with a cook and maid for only $1,650 a night.  For those rates, you could bring the whole family and keep up with the Kardashians.

Speaking of which, their go-to locale is the same for Demi Moore, Jennifer Aniston, Eva Longoria and more: Casa Aramara.  In the low season (July – Sept) the base rates are $15,000 a night with a five-night minimum.  Here is what you get for your “I could buy a car for that” amount of money: 12 Guest Rooms, 4 Ocean Front King Suites, 4 Garden Villa Double Rooms, 1 Guest Villa Master Suite, 1 Guest Villa King Room, 1 Guest Villa Double Room, and 1 Guest Triple Room.  Guests have access to spa treatments, scuba diving, whale watching, personal training, a 24-hour butler and two 5-star chefs.

Food and beverage
If you don’t plan on filming the next episode of your reality series at Casa Aramara, you are on your own for food.   

There are plenty of choices for cuisine in the area including Cafe des Artistes del Mar, located atop the Hotel Cinco, providing a farm-to-table experience  where the fish is brought in live daily.  Carolina at the St. Regis is a Five Diamond establishment featuring international cuisine with a local flare.  Serendipity Restaurant & Mezcaleria is going to be your stop for truly contemporary, inventive Mexican Cuisine.  There are no chips and guacamole here.

Things to do
Beyond the beach, sailing, surfing, and golf on two Jack Nicklaus courses are popular activities.  If you are lucky enough to visit from Mid-December through early April, check out the Humpback Whale watching.  The whales, who go there to calve, are known to breach right near your boat.  The local village offers shopping for resident artisans and a few art galleries have even opened recently. Day trips to Sayulita, Lo de Marcos, San Pancho, Playa Chacala and Puerto Vallarta are all available as well.  Marieta Islands are a quick boat ride away and very popular to view marine life as they are protected from fishing and hunting by the Mexican Government.

It is not surprising the A-listers like Punta Mita so much.  Armed with the info above, whether you are spending $150 or $15,000 a night, now you too can keep ahead of the Kardashians in Mexico.

[readon1 url="http://www.travelpulse.com/news/entertainment/keeping-ahead-of-the-kardashians-in-punta-mita.html"]Source:www.travelpulse.com[/readon1]

This small island, located near the Pacific coast of Mexico has a population of just over 800 inhabitants. According to local legend, Mexcaltitán was the ancestral home of the Aztecs .

Two years ago we had the Optinam 2012 in Valle de Bravo, Edo. de Mexico where we had around 200 Optimists and it was a great and successful experience for the international and local sailors as well as for the organizing committee.

Puerto Vallarta Mayor Ramón Guerrero Martínez recently announced—after Palmares Beach was recently awarded the Blue Flag—that two additional beaches (Holi and Mismaloya) are being readied for certification. “We hope to become the Mexican municipality with most certified beaches,” he commented in a recent public address.

The Blue Flag (blueflag.org) is a voluntary eco-label awarded to more than 4000 beaches and marinas in 48 countries across Europe, South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, New Zealand, Brazil, North America and the Caribbean. The concept was born in France. In 1985, French coastal municipalities were awarded with the Blue Flag for complying with sewage treatment and bathing water quality criteria. Two years later,  the Foundation for Environmental Education in Europe presented the Frech model to the European Commission and the Blue Flag Program was launched. That same year, the Blue Flag was awarded to 244 beaches and 208 marinas in ten European countries. Certification lasts for a year, after which judges must re-visit each location to ensure that the criteria is met.

Beaches are awarded the Blue Flag based on compliance with 32 points, organized in four primary categories: Environmental Education and Information, Water Quality, Environmental Management, and Safety and Services. The organization provides tools and resources for Blue Flag beaches to promote the principles behind the award.

Less than 10 beaches in all of Mexico have received the Blue Flag. In Banderas Bay, two beaches have received the award: Nuevo Vallarta Beach through the period of June 2013 - June 2014, and Palmares Beach, south of Puerto Vallarta, from July 2014 - 2015. It is important to emphasize that many beaches in Banderas Bay that have not received this important award are fit for swimming and recreation, welcoming thousands of visitors every year. For a guide to Banderas Bay beaches, please click here.

[readon1 url="http://virtualvallarta.com/puertovallarta/news/local/puerto-vallarta-seeks-more-blue-flag-beach-certifi.shtml"]Source:/virtualvallarta.com[/readon1]

There's a reasonable chance that some of you who are reading this first got the cruise bug by watching the TV series The Love Boat in the late 1970s.

If that was a fun decade, the actors had more than their share of it on the Pacific Princess (a.k.a. The Love Boat) as it sailed the Mexican Riviera from Los Angeles, with stops in Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta and, yes, sometimes all the way south to Acapulco.

That original Pacific Princess was dismantled and scrapped last year in Turkey, but it holds a lot of memories for many early cruisers and TV viewers. The show played on Saturday nights on ABC and was paired with Fantasy Island.

For some reason, I thought the celebrity guests on the show were in the "B" category. But it appears not when you find people like Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Ginger Rogers, Olivia de Havilland, Debbie Reynolds, Tom Hanks and Don Ameche all made appearances.

Gavin MacLeod, the skipper, and Lauren Tewes, the cruise director, are probably pleased to know that the Mexican Riviera is making a comeback after five years of diminishing numbers, fuelled by reports of violence and a collapsing U.S. economy that arguably hit California harder than any other state.

Cruisecritic.com offered a few facts about the demise:

"Puerto Vallarta went from having a banner year in 2008, when 180 ships arrived, to a mere 82 in 2013. Mazatlan suffered a significant financial hit when a string of violent incidents prompted cruise lines to pull out completely in 2011, losing all of the 520,000 passengers that had visited in 2010."

Carnival announced last week it is going back with seven-day cruises in 2014-15 that include stops at Mazatlan. Princess has also put Mazatlan back into its Mexican Riviera schedule. The Riviera isn't just Mazatlan, of course, but it's an important cog in reviving the traditional Mexican Riviera sevenday cruise to those three ports. A major holdout so far is Royal Caribbean. All the line is saying is that it's continuing to weigh all options.

With Galveston and Houston thriving as ports and the Mexican Riviera back on the radar of at least some cruise lines, people living in the western half of North America now have more choices of ports closer to home.

Carnival has designated Long Beach, Calif., the year-round home port of the Carnival Miracle. While there are several itineraries, the first that includes Mazatlan departs on Nov. 8.

Princess won't have a year-round presence, but its Crown Princess and Grand Princess will be sailing the traditional seven-day cruises seasonally. Mexican Riviera cruises for Princess run from November to April, then again in the late fall of 2015 through the spring of 2016.

Norwegian's presence in Mexico will be mainly in fall and early winter.

It's clear the cruise lines believe in the recovering global economy and in anti-violence steps taken in Mexico, especially Mazatlan. If Carnival makes a success of its year-round presence, look for competitors to drop their anchors in Southern California yearround, too.

[readon1 url="http://www.leaderpost.com/travel/Mexican+Riviera+makes+comeback/9912720/story.html"]Source:www.leaderpost.com[/readon1]

Grupo Marival is celebrating Texas Week from June 10th through the 17th. Tour operator Funjet will fly 150 Texans to the destination to enjoy the party, which will also be attended by hotel guests and the local public.