As part of a long-standing tradition in Mexico, Los Reyes Magos visit local children bearing gifts each year on January 6. The Biblical birth of Jesus describes the arrival of three magical kings who following a star, arrived to visit the new born King offering gifts of luck and wealth. Many families in Mexico still celebrate this tradition, and in many instances, it is the day of gifts instead of Christmas Day. Local charities visit hospitals and rural communities with toys and gifts for needy children, while in Puerto Vallarta, many hotels offer a Three King Celebration for children with parties and gifts sponsored by them. In downtown Puerto Vallarta, children can visit the three kings who arrive in the Malecon, as part of the celebration. Local tradition also requires children to leave milk and cookies on January 5th for the weary animals that have brought the kings to their home. Most events are free, but some hotels might charge for the parties.

Sue Austin has been a wheelchair user since 1996, but has dedicated herself to “finding ways to understand and represent my embodied experience as a wheelchair user, opening up profound issues about methods of self-representation and the power of self-narration in challenging the nexus of power and control that created the ‘disabled’ as other.”

With the aim of favoring the social and productive integration of the people, mainly of the young native population of Jalisco, and as a central part of the Politics of Wellbeing of the Government of the State, during 2013 an economic support was provided to 416 native students, through the program Native Scholarships, in which five million 864 thousand 821 pesos were invested.

The head of the Ministry of Development and Social Integration (SEDIS), Salvador Rizo Castelo, detailed that of these economic aids delivered, 52.6 percent corresponded to men and 47.4 percent to native women, from a young population settled in the state, which was helped so that they could continue with their academic development.

He added that the delivered scholarships corresponded in 53.5 percent to high school levels and 46.5 percent to upper levels. The state civil servant, said that in this way the most vulnerable indigenous students, mainly from the municipalities of Bolaños, Chimaltitán, Cuautitlán de García Barragán, Huejuquilla El Alto, Mezquitic, Tuxpan, Villa Guerrero and Zapotitlán of Vadillo, were benefited.

“In this northern zone we have implemented a distinct program, which we carry to other municipalities, called Indigenous Scholarship Program, so that the native brothers of the northern zone can keep studying and preparing themselves so that they can continue building a better future for their communities, at the same time that they continue preserving its traditions”, mentioned Salvador Rizo Castelo.

He explained that the Government of Jalisco works in favor of the native students of the northern zone of the State, “because they no longer are alone, but they have the backup of the state Government and an example of this is the delivery of these aids, that furthermore are their right, we do not give them anything and the only thing that they have to do is keep preparing themselves and get involved in the transformation of their municipalities”.

Additionally and as part of the Politics of Wellbeing, the Government of Jalisco through the SEDIS, backed up 901 youngsters in three qualification centers for the work that expanded their educational offer from 10 to 23 courses. During the present administration, 480 students graduated and 590 work qualification scholarships were given.

In attention to the native communities that live in the state, the Advisory Council of the State Indigenous Commission was installed, which is an organism of participation and enquiry for the native communities and villages, which reinforces the public politics and recognizes this population as a priority group for attention to which support will continue to be given to guarantee their right to a life of wellbeing.

With the aim to guarantee the right to an identity, the pilot project of Extemporaneous Registrations was implemented in the Indigenous Zone of San Andrés Cohamiata, of the municipality of Mezquitic, attaining 156 extemporaneous registrations, of which 131 corresponded to girls and boys, 22 to adults and three to elder people.

During 2013 one hundred people of nahua, wixárika, mixtec and triqui origins were supported with medical attention, legal advice and transfer to their communities. At the same time that a backup was given to cultural traditions, uses and habits of the native villages, by means of the promotion and diffusion of cultural projects through the program of scholarships of the State Council for the Culture and the Arts and of the program of Support to the Municipal and Community Culture.

Also, as part of the Politics of Wellbeing and according to the aims and strategies of the State Plan of Development, the cultural expressions of the native villages were boosted by means of the XVIII Regional Encounter of Autochthonous Dances in which 19 dance groups participated from the southern region of Jalisco, Colima and Michoacán.

[readon1 url="http://notivallarta.com/2014/01/02/respalda-gobierno-de-jalisco-a-estudiantes-indigenas-de-la-entidad/"]Source: NotiVallarta Translated by Rene Tripp[/readon1]

The Paraísos Nayaritas program continues to grow, enhancing and revamping the infrastructure of the beachfront towns of the Riviera Nayarit. Part of this effort includes the 315 meters of the beautiful new boardwalk, or malecón, at La Peñita de Jaltemba, which also benefits Guayabitos.

It’s been nearly a year since construction started on the new boardwalk, or malecón, at La Peñita de Jaltemba and it’s now down to a few small details. The inauguration is planned for early 2014.
 
The boardwalk runs some 315 meters from calle Rubén Jaramillo to calle Crisanto Jacobo along the Libertad roadway and will benefit other nearby coastal towns, specifically Guayabitos.
 
Three separate levels of government came together to create this important improvement in the tourism infrastructure of the region. Rossanna Araujo, president of the Compostela Hotel and Motel Association (referred to as AHMC by its acronym in Spanish), urged the area’s citizens to care for their new malecón.                                       
 
“I would like to address our citizens and urge them to take care of this new resource, to not litter or mar it with graffiti. This construction has greatly benefited La Peñita de Jaltemba, and I trust we will conserve it and stay vigilant so it remains undamaged,” said Araujo.
 
She also commented that even though it isn’t completely done people have already begun to use the area since the concrete was laid down; now it’s simply a matter of getting in the details.
 
“It’s already hosted art expos with paintings and handicrafts,” added the president of the AHMC. “This is tourism for the people; now there’s a lot more for everyone to do. It’s been packed since it’s nearly finished.”
 
The Paraísos Nayaritas program continues to grow, enhancing and revamping the infrastructure of the many coastal towns of the Riviera Nayarit. Another example is the new plaza under construction in Bucerías.
 
That project is just beginning and although it presents a short-term inconvenience for local businesses, truth is they are the first to admit that every benefit requires a sacrifice, and this one is not so onerous when compared to the benefits they will enjoy once the construction is finalized.
 
The shopkeepers have even commented on the fact that the workers stay on task deep into the night in order to finish the plaza as quickly as possible so as to add another fine tourist attraction to the Riviera Nayarit.

Nuevo Vallarta holds fourth place among the best beaches in Mexico thanks to its cleanliness and its soft sand, not to mention its proximity to 23 hotels, 5 bungalows and 110 vacation condos.

Once again one of the Riviera Nayarit’s attributes helps it stand out as one of the best destinations in the world. This time it was the beach at Nuevo Vallarta, which took fourth place in TripAdvisor’s Top Ten Beaches in Mexico.

Considered one of the best, the biggest and the most modern high-end tourism developments in the country, the Fraccionamiento Turístico Náutico Residencial Nuevo Vallarta boasts one of the cleanest beaches in the country, having received the Blue Flag certification.

The beach is not only clean, but its soft sand, its lengthy extension, its brilliant water—in other words, its pure beauty—make it the perfect spot to walk and enjoy the ocean air.
As a matter of fact, the post on the website has already garnered over 500 comments, most of which highlight these same characteristics.

TripAdvisor is the web’s largest travel site, allowing travelers to plan and execute the trip of a lifetime. It offers reliable reviews by real travelers and an ample variety of planning tools and direct links to reservation sites.

Sites with the TripAdvisor brand make up the largest travel service community in the world, thanks to its more than 260 million unique visitors per month and the over 125 million reviews and commentaries on more than 2.7 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions.

Its sites operate in 30 countries around the world; it also manages TripAdvisor for Business, a site dedicated to giving the tourism industry access to the millions of people that visit TripAdvisor every month. TripAdvisor manages and operates 20 travel pages.

Click here to see the entire list: http://www.tripadvisor.com/TravelersChoice-Beaches-cTop-g150768

Dear Readers:

Happy New Year to you and your loved ones!

The year is  about to end. You  have  invested  your  effort and  time  doing  your  regular  work. So  Now… Stop...!!!  Think...!!! Don't  you  want  to  enjoy?

Stop planning your career, don't panic about the future, don't worry about what others are doing and be sure to spend the year end with your near and dear ones at the place you have always dreamed of.

May your season be filled with happiness and good cheer!  It has been an honor and pleasure to work with you this year. Wish you the best of holidays and successful & prosperous 2014.

With best wishes and warm regards,

	Tom Egan Publisher Vallarta Today

Sofía Vergara chose Punta Mita for her Christmas holiday; Peter Facinelli and Jaimie Alexander spent a few days in Nuevo Vallarta; actors Teresa Palmer and Mark Webber tied the knot in a private house in Punta Mita, one of the A-list’s top ten favorite vacations spots in the world.

Colombian actress Sofía Vergara chose to spend Christmas with her family and her boyfriend, businessman Nick Loeb, in Punta Mita, Riviera Nayarit. Sofía is the highest paid Latin American actress in the United States.

Her photo in a bikini showing off her stunning figure shows the Marietas Islands in the background. During her stay she also took to the social media airwaves, letting her fans know she had tasted tequila and was once again completely wowed by Mexico’s Pacific Treasure.

Peter Facinelli, star of Twilight, was another recent visitor together with his girlfriend Jaimie Alexander, who was on the cast of Thor: The Dark World. They stayed in Nuevo Vallarta, enjoyed SPA treatments and even jet-skied around the bay.

Celebrities Tie the Knot in the Riviera Nayarit

The Riviera Nayarit has become the favorite stage for celebrities to frolic on during their down time as well as a preferred spot to celebrate the most important moments of their lives. Case in point: actors Teresa Palmer and Mark Webber, who chose Punta Mita to celebrate their intimate wedding.

The event took place on December 21st in a private house in Punta Mita, where a small group of select guests was invited to witness the marriage. Palmer herself gave Australian magazine WHO the exclusive.

"Mark and I are thrilled beyond words to be married in a very intimate and spiritual ceremony. We felt blessed to be surrounded by just a very small number of best friends and family," commented the Australian actress, who starred in the movie Warm Bodies.

Palmer and Webber met over Twitter in 2012, began dating and one year later announced her pregnancy via the same social media platform, followed by their wedding announcement. The actress stressed she wanted to be married before her first child was born.

Webber is a well-known American actor with a 10+-year career, during which time he has acted in over 30 movies.

This event reaffirms the Riviera Nayarit’s positioning as one of the preferred destinations for celebrities, as was announced in early 2013 by the publication Business Insider, which singled out Punta Mita as one of the top ten vacation spots for celebrities.

More celebrity sightings from the movie, television, music and sports industries are expected during this holiday period, and they will doubtless enjoy their visit to Mexico’s Pacific Treasure.

US.- As part of the invitation that the Oaxacan indigenous communities and organizations in California did to the bare mountain giants (Los Gigantes Descalzos de la Montaña), as they are known children Triqui, carried out a visit to the Disneyland theme park.

children who are visiting in Los Angeles, California, toured all the major attractions, rides and shows for the characters and although many children that make up the Triqui selection do not recognize the figure of mickey mouse, there surprise was total to appreciate the emblematic American Park games.

During this trip to Los Angeles, children attended  Friday the meeting between The Lakers and The Timberwolves where lived and welcomed to the party players like Paul Gasol and Ricky Rubio.

While  Saturday the children took pictures on the Hollywood sign.

The selected children will continue with there visit to California until December 28.

[readon1 url="http://vallartaopina.net/2013/12/23/ninos-triquis-cautivados-por-la-magia-de-disney/"]Source: Vallarta Opina[/readon1]

In past days there was a contest to select Miss Exotik, who will represent this important franchise located in all of the republic, but especially in Vallarta.

The “Vallarta-Nayarit, Live it to Believe it” joint campaign spearheaded by the MTB won first place in the the Golf, Beach and Adventure destinations categories.

The successful campaign, “Vallarta-Nayarit, Live it to Believe It,” promoted jointly by the Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta and spearheaded by the Mexico Tourism Board (MTB) continues to bear positive results; in this case, the campaign was awarded three first place prizes by Travel Weekly’s 2013 Magellan Awards.

Every year Travel Weekly honors the best promotional images and videos used to advertise tourism destinations around the world. Every detail is taken into account, from the design to the commercialization of the services offered.

Mexico was awarded prizes in the Golf Destination category thanks to the image of Punta Mita’s Bahía Golf Course Hole 3B; the other two awards were in the Beach Destination and Adventure Destination categories, both for photographs of Playa Escondida in the Marietas Islands, Nayarit.

The awards are determined by 12 travel industry heavyweights, who judged the entries and scored each of the advertising elements on a scale of 0 through 100 to decide which one was the winner. Some of the candidates won in several categories; there were also categories where there were no absolute winners.

The awards recognize a broad range of industry segments: hospitality, travel destinations cruise lines, online travel services, airlines, airports, travel agents and agencies, tour operators and ground transportation, all of which are looking to be recognized as the best in the industry.

The winners will appear in print and on the web site; they also received a small gold statue created by the same company that makes the Oscar and the Emmy awards.

The Magellan Awards have been in existence since 2008 and are a very distinctive and motivating honor.

For a complete list of winners click here: http://www.travelweeklyawards.com/winners/list/?event=6&category=4&award=G

2013 ends on a high note as the Riviera Nayarit CVB welcomed 50 members of the international media on a FAM trip that included representatives from the United States, Canada, Brazil, Spain, England, Germany and Mexico, which has already garnered over 80 million impressions for the brand.

This December the Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) welcomed 50 members of the international media to help generate exposure for the destination’s brand around the world. With only one story published per medium, the destination’s brand will surpass 80 million impressions.

All of the invited members of the media from captive markets such as the United States, Canada and Mexico, potential markets such as Brazil and England and others including Spain and Germany agreed that the Riviera Nayarit is a unique location.

The destination will be showcased around the world on television, radio, and in digital and print media specializing in luxury, cultural and adventure tourism, golf, lifestyle, weddings, industry publications and media opinion leaders.

Media included USA Today, which leads the publishing world in the United States with a circulation of 23,800,000; in second place, About.com, with about 19,262,016 Unique Visitors Per Month; and in third, the New York Daily news with a circulation of 2,813,413.

From Spain we hosted Agencia EFE, GQ and El Economista; Panrotas and Robb Report from Brazil; England’s Press Association; Germany’s Golfpunk; Mexico’s Travel & Leisure and, of course, Travel Weekly, which sent representatives from several countries.

We’re already seeing the results being published worldwide with stories on the different attractions of the Riviera Nayarit, including the luxurious offerings of Punta Mita, Nuevo Vallarta and Litibú; the traditions of San Pancho; Sayulita’s “hippie chic” style; the nautical attractions of La Cruz de Huanacaxtle; the natural beauty of the Marietas Islands and the many other natural marvels that have blessed this destination where the mountains meet the sea.

This was a first visit for the majority of the journalists and they confirmed they would be back. The deputy editor for GQ Spain, María Pardo, said she loved “the sunrise and to see the pristine beach extending off into the distance right in front of my room; the perfect climate; the whale-watching trip and the Marietas Islands, which were amazing.”

“There’s no doubt the underground beach is fantastic, I never imagined anything that lovely. I will definitely write something about the unique beauty of the Riviera Nayarit,” said Tom Irving from Travel Weekly UK, whose opinion echoed that of his international colleagues.

With FAM trips such as this one the Riviera Nayarit CVB reasserts its commitment to maintaining a steady flow of work with the clear objective of improving Tourism in order to benefit the people of Nayarit.

The most powerful concert of the year

In past days Markus Schulz was presented in a very famous place in Vallarta.