Unique worker Liaison service sets Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program apart

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. With the fall season in full swing, many Ontario farmers have finished or are in the midst of their fall harvest with the help of seasonal workers from Mexico and the Caribbean.

This successful program is administered by Foreign Agricultural Resource Management Services (F.A.R.M.S.). The Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) has helped Ontario farmers fill more than 15,000 seasonal vacancies this year.

Established in 1966 to respond to a critical shortage of available domestic agricultural workers, SAWP continues to serve the same role today, connecting Ontario farmers with supplementary seasonal labour from Mexico, Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad/Tobago and the Eastern Caribbean States.

Despite temporarily being away from home and their families during their work terms in Ontario, the workers are only a telephone call away from someone from their homelands. Each country participating in SAWP maintains a Liaison service or Consulate office in Ontario to look after the general welfare of agricultural workers and help them navigate any issues or complications they may face while working here.

“Liaison service is one of the unique features of our program that makes it so successful and has made it a model for similar programs around the world,” says Ken Forth, president of F.A.R.M.S. and a Lynden, Ont. broccoli grower. “There are about 380,000 temporary workers in Canada through a variety of programs and the seasonal agricultural worker program is the only one that provides workers the support of Liaison services.”

Liaison services from each participating country are open year round — their role contributes to a repeat of 80% of the seasonal agricultural workers each year. The Liaison service is instrumental in recruiting and selecting the best candidates for placement of successful applicants each year on Ontario farms and provide workers support on a wide range of issues during their term of employment.

“For decades, this program has provided seasonal workers well-paying employment, benefits and on the job educational opportunities not available at home,” Forth says. “At the same time, it gives Ontario farmers a steady source of reliable labour as a supplement to local labour.”

Seasonal agricultural workers are beginning to return home every day now as more and more of them complete their work terms. The Liaison service, which just a few months ago welcomed them back to Ontario, are wishing them a safe journey home before moving on to prepare for the next growing season.

About the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program:

More information about Canada’s Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) can be found at www.farmsontario.ca

Each year, Americans celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday on the fourth Thursday of November. Most families follow traditions begun on the first Thanksgiving, but many have their own traditions that they follow each year. Here are some of the common traditions associated with "Turkey Day."

Travel

One of the best things about Thanksgiving is spending time with family. Many people live far from family members and travel long distances by car, train, or plane to be with their loved ones. Thanksgiving is the busiest travel day of the year!

The Feast

Traditional foods are a large part of Thanksgiving celebrations. Many families include the entire family in the food preparation. Traditional foods include turkey, stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes, cornbread, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce. Many people serve pie for dessert at the end of the meal. Popular pie flavors are pumpkin, pecan, sweet potato, and apple.

Vegetarian Foods

Some families choose to serve vegetarian Thanksgiving dinners instead of a stuffed turkey. Some people eat vegetarian turkey, which is made out of tofu. Others prefer to eat squash, salads, or other fruit and vegetable dishes.

The Wishbone

Some families include breaking the turkey's wishbone as part of their celebration. The wishbone is found attached to the breast meat in the turkey's chest. After the meat has been removed and the wishbone has had a chance to become dry and brittle, two people each take one end of the bone, make a wish, and pull. Whoever ends up with the larger part of the bone gets their wish!

The Turkey Pardon

Each year at Thanksgiving, the President of the United States receives a gift of a live turkey (along with an alternate in case something happens to the official turkey). At a White House ceremony, the president traditionally "pardons" the National Thanksgiving Turkey and the alternate turkeys, allowing them to live out the rest of their lives on a farm.

Helping Others

Many generous folks use Thanksgiving as an opportunity to help the less fortunate. Some people volunteer to serve food at homeless shelters on Thanksgiving Day and others donate to shelters or participate in canned food drives.

TV

Television also plays a part in Thanksgiving celebrations. Many families watch the New York City Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The parade includes marching bands, floats, songs and performances from Broadway musicals, and giant helium-filled balloons! People may also enjoy televised football games.

City officials, led by Councilman Agustín Álvarez Valdivia representing Mayor Ramon Guerrero Martinez welcomed just over 80 members of the Committee of Sister Cities of Santa Barbara, California, to who they thanked for the noble work they do on behalf of Puerto Vallarta.

During his message, the Vallartan ruler highlighted the support that the committees have given for thirty years in this beach destination in regards to public security, culture, and recently, in the construction of a health center, in addition to showing gratitude for the donation of a garbage truck and an ambulance that in the coming days will be arriving to the city.

For her part, the president of the local Committee of the Sister Cities, Cuquis Caballero, and the engineer Jaime Velasquez, director of the exchange program, handed over awards to the Mayors Ramón Guerrero Martínez and Agustín Álvarez, who have been the link to the City Council before the sister city committees. Also some presents were exchanged.

The event was also attended by Preventive Police officers who recently returned from that town in the U.S., where they received training as part of the collaboration and brotherhood agreements between the two communities.

In this way the officials Fierro and Padilla expressed their gratitude to the committee members for the uninterrupted support they have received during the last ten years by the county Sheriff's Department of Santa Barbara, giving them important tools for the optimal performance of police duties.

The meeting was enlivened by notes of flute playing children from the Music School of the Cuale Cultural Center, directed by the teacher Antonio Jerezano Araiza.

[readon1 url="http://vallartaopina.net/2013/11/11/dan-bienvenida-al-comite-de-ciudades-hermanas-de-santa-barbara/"]Source: Vallarta Opina Translated by Rene Tripp[/readon1]

Vallarta-Nayarit ended its U.S. tour on a high note with the announcement of new direct flights from Philadelphia and New York, set to start this coming December.

The East Coast Road Show spearheaded by the Mexico Tourism Board (MTB) and the “Vallarta-Nayarit, Live it to believe it” campaign came to a successful close with the announcement of four new direct flights from the U.S. to the destinations.

A dinner presentation was held at New York’s Rosa Mexicano Restaurant for 50 top travel agents last October 29th as part of the joint promotional efforts set forth by the Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta convention and visitors bureaus.

Iván Martínez, the MTB’s Director of Public Relations for North America, was present when they announced two new weekly flights from John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) via Aeroméxico starting December 19th and another on Delta Airlines (also starting in December).

“Until now, the Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta only received direct flights originating in Newark from this part of the country,” said Marc Murphy, Managing Director of the Riviera Nayarit CVB. “The tourism industry in New York is very enthusiastic about these new flights and the options they present for trips from a second airport serving the Big Apple.”

Aeroméxico executives also attended the event, as did representatives from wholesalers Apple Vacations, Delta Vacations and Aeroméxico Vacations.

Riviera Nayarit properties present both in New York and Philadelphia included the Hard Rock, Grand Velas, Occidental, Paradise Village, Palladium, Samba, Villa del Palmar Flamingos and Villa La Estancia.

Representatives from AM Resorts, Crown Paradise, Westin, Sheraton, Barceló, Garza Blanca, Buenaventura and the Villa Group were present on behalf of Puerto Vallarta.

On October 30th an agent training was held in Pennsylvania for 45 call center employees from wholesaler Cheapcaribbean.com, located in Doylestown. That same evening a dinner presentation was held for 70 travel agents in Philadelphia.

During the meal they announced a new weekly charter flight for Apple Vacations operated by Aeroméxico, which will commence on December 21st; it will offer executive class seats for travelers looking for a more comfortable trip.

Natalia Jiménez, Mexican General Consul in Philadelphia, was among the attendees, as was the Director of the MTB U.S. regional office, Adolfo Salamanca.

“We had a very good turnout; it had been quite a while since the Pacific destinations had held a presentation in Philadelphia,” commented Murphy. “Previously, travelers from this area would have had to travel outside the city to catch direct flights to the Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta, but now they can do so from the comfort of their own home airport.”

The ward was conferred by Canadians participating in the travel trade fair; the competition included Cuba, Italy and France, the latter being the event host.

Mexico was chosen as the most popular destination by attendees of the International Tourism and Travel Show (known by its French acronym SITV), held from October 25-27 in Montreal, Canada,

Canadians who participated in the SIVT fair voted for the most popular destination during a poll.

Our neighbors to the north chose our country above Cuba, Italy and France, the latter being the host of the event.

The recognition was awarded to Manuel Montelongo, Director of the local branch of the Mexico Tourism Board (MTB). The Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta convention and visitors bureaus were also present during the event, working together to promote the new “Vallarta-Nayarit, Live it to believe it” campaing.

“This is a very important award because it demonstrates the trust the Canadians place in our country,” said Marc Murphy, Managing Director of the Riviera Nayarit CVB. “Mexico is very attractive to Canadians; Riviera Nayarit  and Puerto Vallarta are part of the reason why.”

This is the most important retail tourism fair in Canada, bringing together top tour operators and agencies selling directly to the public. For three days, some 38 thousand paying attendees browsed the stands looking for their next vacation destination, some of them purchasing their trips on-site.

The Riviera Nayarit was represented by the Hard Rock, Grand Velas, Riu Hotels, Samba Vallarta, the Marival Group, the Palladium, Decameron and Iberostar properties.

“Many of the participants that were contacted during the event already had their reservations made in different hotels in the Riviera Nayarit,” said Murphy. “These are the tangible results of our promotional campaigns, as well as an indicator of the revenue coming into our region.”

According to a poll conducted by the Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau during the first semester of 2013, the overall satisfaction level of Canadians after a visit to our destination increased from 8.87 in 2012 to 9.09 in 2013.

 Luxury hotel room night reservations made by Canadians in the Riviera Nayarit increased by 27.16% over last year. This number reflects the constant efforts made to improve the tourism experience in “Mexico’s Pacific Treasure.

The main objective is to promote the new flights from London and Manchester to the Rivera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta starting in May 2014.

The World Travel Mart is taking place now through November 7th at the ExCeL London, where 5,000 exhibitors and buyers from around the world have come together to do business. The Riviera Nayarit CVB is representing the Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta tourism corridor and is actively promoting the  “Vallarta-Nayarit, Live it to Believe it” joint campaign.

The Riviera Nayarit has set up a stand where it will consolidate business with tour operators as a follow up to the work already done by the Mexico Tourism Board (MTB) during the first two days of the event; the next two days will be dedicated to training the travel agents attending the fair.

The main objective of the CVB’s participation is to spread the word about the new direct flights that TUI will begin from England to these destinations, which came about thanks to the joint efforts of the Riviera Nayarit and the Puerto Vallarta CVBs, along with the unwavering support of the Mexico Tourism Board.

The flights originating at London’s Gatwick airport will begin on May 1st, while those departing from the Manchester Airport will start on the 3rd. These will be weekly flights from each of these airports, which imply stays of one to two weeks at least by our visitors.

“The English market has always been very important to us,” said Marc Murphy, Director General of the Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB).

“The stays are longer which in turn generates a higher revenue and higher spending in the destination. In the end, we’re looking after the welfare of the people of our State and higher spending means better quality of life for the locals.”

The TUI program includes hotels from both tourism destinations and is currently on sale through “First Choice Holidays” and “Thomson Holidays,” considered two of the most important tour operator companies in Europe. For more information on their vacation packages, please click on one of the tour operator links below:

“According to a poll conducted by the Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau during the first semester of 2013, of all the international visitors outside of North America, the English market represents only 2% of guests,” said Murphy. “This indicates that, with these new TUI flights, we should see a significant increase in this market in 2014.”

It's a good preview of what's ahead for the region in the next winter season

To meet the demand of the U.S. market at the end of this year, U.S. Airways began operating three daily flights to Puerto Vallarta from Phoenix, Arizona, said Betty Fuentes, station manager of the airline at the international airport of this city.
She said that the expectations for the months of November and December are pretty good, as they foresee an acceptable amount of arrivals of American tourism for the winter season ahead, which runs until May of next year.
She said that as it was expected, September was a low month for U.S. tourist arrivals and flight operations from the Phoenix airport, which serves as the terminal connection to several cities in the United States.
"In September we had a daily flight, but this October we began to operate two, three or even four daily flights on the weekends, therefore the situation has improved".
She noted that an important characteristic in the arrival of flights operated by U.S. Airways is that virtually all come full, so that during the months of November and December more passenger arrivals are expected from the United States.
She added that definitely "we are very fortunate because we aren't lacking passengers, we have not had a single flight operating at half capacity".
In this way U.S. Airways currently operates 25 flights a week, after that in the weekends there are three more flights that reach the local air terminal.
The airline operates the equipment Airbus 320 and 319 for 150 and 124 passengers, besides having a 76 passenger airplane that arrives only on Sundays.
"I believe that our sales department is working very well and we are doing so much better, because all the flights have arrived full, both in weekdays and weekends".
Betty Fuentes pointed out that with the operation of these 25 weekly flights, U.S. Airways entered fully into the winter season, since for next December the airline will have one more overnight flight each week, with a large capacity.
It is this way that the expectations for the coming winter season are good. In general, for the destination, a significant improvement in passenger arrivals from the United States is expected, which accounts for about 60 percent of the international market that Puerto Vallarta receives.

[readon1 url="http://vallartaopina.net/2013/11/01/us-airways-opera-ya-25-vuelos-a-la-semana-hacia-puerto-vallarta/"]Source: Vallarta Opina Translated by Rene Tripp[/readon1]

After significant promotion efforts by the Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) for this destination in South America, there has been an increase in the number of Brazilian tourists and concrete commitments of agencies and tour operators in the country to promote the sale of vacation packages to Riviera Nayarit.

The recent tour in which there was the participation of the Tourism Fair of the Americas of the Brazilian Association of Travel Agencies (ABAV), the most important in the country, left a total of 80 travel agents trained on tourism for Mexico's Pacific Treasure and 6 wholesalers committed to participate in a promotion-pool, who will visit the destination soon thanks to a partnership with Aeromexico, in which the agencies have undertaken to identify the destination in their websites and train their call center employees about Riviera Nayarit, plus including an investment of $ 80,000 in cooperative advertising.

"We were able to make it so that Agaxtur, a major Virtuoso tour operator with which we held a business breakfast there, sends information about Riviera Nayarit in one of its newsletters, as well as participate in the pool; and that Queensberry, a leading agency in the luxury market, commits to promote packages to Riviera Nayarit with Four Seasons and St Regis as destinations", said Marc Murphy, director of the OVC of Riviera Nayarit.

He also said that strategies are prepared separately with TAM Viagens, the travel agency for Latin America of the Brazilian airline, which will soon be announced.

"We are committed to the Governor of the People to work to improve the quality of life for all the people of Nayarit. The work we are doing in South America is part of these efforts and is already bearing fruit: the statistics of recent days, the exit polls with tourists have already begun to shed the presence of Brazilian tourism", explained Murphy.

Thus, if in the historical data the presence of tourism whose origin is other than the U.S., Mexico or Canada never exceeded 1% of the total, now you can see that so far in September, this kind of tourism exceeded 1.5 percent, in addition that at least 22% of this percentage is Brazilian, said the manager.

[readon1 url="http://www.periodicoexpress.com.mx/nota.php?id=279173"]Source: Periódico Express de Nayarit Translated by Rene Tripp[/readon1]

It's official, Mexico presented in New York on Wednesday September 25, the campaign "Live it to Believe it!" To the tourism industry and media of the United States and in the event, chaired by the General Director of Tourism Promotion Council of Mexico (CPTM), Rodolfo López Negrete, and in which Vallarta-Nayarit stood out with the projection of the commercial spot produced to promote the region under the umbrella of this international campaign.

The event was attended by the Secretaries of Tourism of Jalisco and Nayarit, Enrique Ramos Flores and Raúl Rodrigo Pérez Hernández respectively; Nacho Cadena, president of the Association of Hotels and Motels of Puerto Vallarta, and Marc Murphy, CEO of the Bureau of Visitors and Conventions (CVB) of Riviera Nayarit, representing both destinations.

"The official launch has been of great benefit to Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit, for being one of the first destinations of the country with the production of the spot and the art advertising for this campaign, we made a projection during the event.

Actually we should thank the Federal Government headed by Enrique Peña Nieto, and in particular the Secretary Claudia Ruiz Massieu for their push and historical support that we are receiving in Vallarta-Nayarit", said Nacho Cadena.

Recall that, under the umbrella "Live it to Believe it!", it has been possible to consolidate a joint tourism promotion stock for the region of over 10 million dollars to be used in more than 19 cooperative campaigns with commercial partners, airlines, specialized media in the travel segment and multiple branding actions running since last July with an increase of about 20 percent.

To achieve the above, the joint work has been fundamental, of the governors Aristóteles Sandoval of Jalisco, and Roberto Sandoval of Nayarit, who have agreed to continue joint development efforts over the next four years.

"It is important to note that the planning is to be executed from July to December and we are looking for very specific goals: we want to achieve 103 thousand new seats on flights to our destinations and to increase by 110 thousand room-nights the production.

That is, these actions will allow an increase of 20 percent for the industry, something that we can only achieve with the joint work of Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit", explained Marc Murphy.

As part of the joint promotion efforts, Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit performed between September 23 and 26, a promotional tour in the cities of Portland, Seattle, Langley and Vancouver, in order to attract more tourists from those regions.

THE FEASIBILITY OF NEW FLIGHTS IS REVIEWED
Taking advantage of the visit to the city of New York, the entourage of Vallarta-Nayarit also held this Thursday, September 26, a meeting to review feasibility studies of new flights to the region with the consulting company SH&E, from which they will establish promotion strategies and business meetings during the World Routes event, to be held between October 5 and 8 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

[readon1 url="http://notivallarta.com/2013/09/26/vallarta-nayarit-destaca-en-presentacion-internacional-de-la-campana-live-it-to-believe-it/"]Source: NotiVallarta Translated by Rene Tripp[/readon1]

In order to prevent fraud after the famous case of "Chambamex" in the state of Mexico, officials from the Fraud Prevention Office of the U.S. Consulate General in Guadalajara, offered an informative workshop on the premises of The Regional Unit State Services (UNIRSE), for the general public, however due to a lack of spreading, the event attendance was nil.

In an interview, Monica Ornelas, an analyst at the Office of Fraud Prevention of the U.S. Consulate General in Guadalajara, said that another goal of the talk was to inform the general public about processes to obtain a temporary work visa (H2A and H2B), as well as about the scams in which some people can fall when applying to the above visas.

"There are people who take advantage of people who need those jobs and who pay money to get a place or a position in any company, and maybe the person who asks for money and documents is cheating because that job does not exist. Commonly what happens is that a recruiter who provides work for a certain number of people gets there, if that person starts asking them to keep their money or documents, that can be a sign that it is fraud, because to go to work in the United States one only needs to have the job or have the job offer, one does not have to pay anything, and the recruiter should not keep the documents".

In this sense, Monica Ornelas said that the official procedure is that the employing company hires the worker, and this person makes the request to the National Migration Institute to apply for his visa at the Consulate or Embassy where he can or cannot get his visa.

To prevent cheating, the official said the person should ask in what company is he going to work and the number of request, with this data he can contact the consulate to verify that the offer is in order.
It should be noted that requests are received by the National Migration Institute.

"Migrating in the beginning of the fiscal year opens a number of jobs, and the companies ask for a certain number of workers, the exact number is handled by migration."

The event was attended by Eugenia Vignon, in charge of the Paisano Program in Guadalajara, Mónica Ornelas, analyst in the Office of Fraud Prevention of the U.S. Consulate General in Guadalajara, Javier Ramírez, head of the Fraud Prevention Office of the Consulate General of the United States in Guadalajara, Professor Xóchitl Bañuelos, in charge of the program Assistance to the Migrant in Nayarit, and the lawyer Juan Arana, northern coordinator of the Social Office.

[readon1 url="http://vallartaopina.net/2013/09/26/ofrecen-talleres-para-la-prevencion-de-fraudes"]Source: Vallarta Opina Translated by Rene Tripp[/readon1]

The event took place at the Hotel Regina in Marina Vallarta, on Friday, September 27th, where representatives from different Universities from many countries as University of British Columbia, Vancouver, MacEwan University Edmonton, Alberta Canada, University of Oregon, University of Victoria, Auckland New Zealand, among others visited our city.

They came to offer Scholarships and Financial Aid for International Students, help with residencies, Diplomas, TOEFL, IELTS and opportunities of jobs in their surrounding area. The event was organized by the American School of Puerto Vallarta, with the purpose to offer different options to the students when they complete their high school studies.

Participants in the international convention do a hard day's work at the Convention Center

Technologies in the extraction and management of heavy oil, participation of the largest companies of Latin America and the presence of more than 900 personalities in the oil business, provide a framework for the International Convention of Heavy Oil in the Convention Center of Puerto Vallarta.

In this world of oil, two Mexicans move in the major leagues, they are Mauricio Orozco and Gerardo Zendejas, senior officials from the Petro Skills Canadian company, who are dedicated to train petroleum engineers from around the world, a role that they play since 30 years ago.

Mauricio is director of the company for all of Latin America and Gerardo is the director of the company in Canada. They are at the front of the module where dozens of companies offer their work and each stand attracts the attention of entrepreneurs who get all kinds of reports on the management of heavy oil and of all the products that are extracted from the ground: Gas and other derivatives.

Petróleos Mexicanos, is one of the budding clients, graduates of universities and technical colleges will be trained by Petro Skills, says Mauricio who is a young professional who is in fact in the major leagues in training matters.

Intense activity
The activity that is seen at the Convention Center is intense, beautiful Colombian hostesses in the module of Sulzer, Venezuelan businessmen who claim to have 297 thousand 571 billion barrels and other producers looking for management technologies to achieve higher oil dividends regarding the separation of the different products.

Vallarta Opina is present and we have the best information on this event that is exceptional.

[readon1 url="http://vallartaopina.net/2013/09/25/mexicanos-en-las-ligas-mayores-del-petroleo"]Source: Vallarta Opina Translated by Rene Tripp[/readon1]