The Westin Resort & Spa, Puerto Vallarta, has announced the completion of the renovation of its Lobby, providing  a greater sense of arrival to its guests, The resort has always characterized itself for offering impressive architectural details, complemented with unique visual and sensorial  elements, which intensify each visitors experience.

DCM Design Company was in charge of the renovation; it was completed within a two month period. The new lobby design provides a fresh and modern style to the Westin, the design includes organic elements such as a living wall, that combines several textures such as wood and marble.  An art piece from the well known artist Gerardo Noriega, was placed as the main decorative element in the middle of the lobby, this piece is in the shape of a tree called “Egregora” which means energy fusion.

The reception area was redesigned with three new modules, allowing the associates to interact and have more contact with the guests.  In this area of the resort Japanese grass was planted, transmiting a fresh and relaxing atmosphere.
The furniture was specifically designed for this new space, using materials in light and elegant colors, which lead to comfort and relaxation.  The floor was totally replaced using marble. Special and cozier spaces were created using white dividers simulating coral.

As a finishing touch wooden art pieces from the renowned local Artist Mariano Perez, decorate the Lobby.

With this renovated sensorial environment The Westin Resort & Spa Puerto Vallarta, is like breath of fresh air from the strain of traveling, the resort offers a welcoming place with soothing elements where guests can breathe easier and are gently induced to relaxation. ‏

SEATTLE — Alaska Airlines submitted its application today to begin two new nonstop flights from Portland, Ore., to Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The flights are pending approval by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Mexico Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil (DGAC).

The planned seasonal service will operate between Portland and Los Cabos from Nov. 3 through April 27, 2015, and between Portland and Puerto Vallarta from Nov. 4 through April 26, 2015.

"Alaska Airlines is committed to offering the most nonstop service from the Pacific Northwest to places our customers want to explore, and Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta are hot spots," said Joe Sprague, senior vice president of communications and external relations. "We're happy to expand our longtime flying to Mexico with new flights to these two popular leisure resorts for Rose City travelers, who can take advantage of our award-winning service and low fares for their adventures."

Alaska Airlines began flying to Mexico a quarter century ago and operates 240 flights a week during the winter between the West Coast and Mexico—more than any other carrier. Alaska flies an average of 1.5 million passengers a year to six Mexico beach destinations—Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Loreto, Los Cabos, Manzanillo, Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta—in addition to Guadalajara and Mexico City. Alaska is seeking government approval to begin flights between Seattle and Cancún on Nov. 6.

The new flights between Portland and Mexico will be operated with Boeing 737 aircraft, which offer passengers dual 110-volt and USB power outlets at every seat. The flights will also offer Alaska's inflight entertainment system, a handheld video-on-demand device featuring more than 70 hit movies, along with television programs and other entertainment. The inflight entertainment players are complimentary in first class and available for $8 in the main cabin. Customers can also enjoy onboard meal service, including a hot meal or the airline's Signature Fruit and Cheese Platter.

Flight times and introductory fares will be available on alaskaair.com once the DOT approves Alaska Airlines' request for service, which takes up to four weeks.

Alaska Airlines, a subsidiary of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK), together with its partner regional airlines, serves nearly 100 cities through an expansive network in Alaska, the Lower 48, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico. For reservations, visit www.alaskaair.com. For more news and information, visit the Alaska Airlines Newsroom at www.alaskaair.com/newsroom.

The Puerto Vallarta Tourism Board has signed on to become a “Preferred Partner” of Meeting Professionals International, the premier global association community for meeting and event professionals, as part of its proactive campaign to attract more business travelers from the US and Canada to Mexico’s most Mexican destination.

In 2013, the Puerto Vallarta Tourism Board headed a delegation of hoteliers and the Puerto Vallarta International Convention Center in a partnership with the Mexico Tourism Board and participated in key industry events including AIBTM, WEC and IMEX. In November 2013, Puerto Vallarta also hosted its first Vallarta Meetings educational trip with 12 meetings planners from the US, Canada and China.

As a Preferred Partner, the Puerto Vallarta Tourism Board’s participation at this year’s World Education Congress in Minneapolis will also include promotion of the destination and its business travel offerings through special editorials, highlighted presence in the MarketSquare where representatives will be able to meet with buyers and introduce them to the destination, present at the Past President’s & Chairman’s Breakfast.

Puerto Vallarta will also host a Focus Group with meeting planners at IMEX America where the destination’s infrastructure, offerings and reputation will be analyzed by the professionals in the industry as a way of obtaining constructive criticism.  

Coordinated by LATITUDE, the tourism board's PR agency in the United States and Canada, this partnership makes Puerto Vallarta the only destination to have an alliance with MPI at this level confirming its commitment to this segment.  
 

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Puerto Vallarta, Mexico is prepared for the second Business Matchmaking Pacific Alliance will bring together in one place, 480 exporting companies from NATO countries and about 240 buyers from Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, China, Korea and Japan.

During the two days of Matchmaking, is expected to generate nearly 3,840 business appointments that will benefit entrepreneurs exporting sectors of agribusiness, manufacturing, and clothing .services

Such scenarios serve to further strengthen the intra trade growth - regional and new in this occasion with the participation of buyers from Asia - Pacific.

For more information and registration visit: Second Pacific Alliance Matchmaking Exports

No later than May 15 will be ready the study carried out by the private sector in all states, to determine the damage that could cause the Dragon Mart project, said the leader of the industrial state, Juan Alonso Niño Cota.

In an interview, the coordinator of the Council of Industrial Chambers of Jalisco ( CCIJ ) emphasized that the study will be presented to the National Confederation of Chambers Industrial ( CONCAMIN ), which in turn will lead to the results Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo.

He stressed that the goal is to add to more productive sectors to target curb Drangon Mart project, which has 10 percent of its construction in Cancun, Quintana Roo.

He said that according to the analysis already done by CONCAMIN, Dragon Mart affect the social, economic and foreign trade in Mexico theme, with an impact on the first year of a five per cent in industry, in the second of seven and the third of 10 percent.

Juan Alonso Niño Cota said that for every percentage point increase purchases from China , there is a reduction of 0.125 percent in the Gross Domestic Product ( GDP ) Mexican domestic product, which translates to about 1.25 billion dollars or almost 17 ​​billion pesos.

There are only 2 more shopping Saturdays this season as the market is closing on May 17th! So grab your eco-friendly bags and scoop up all your favorite “make it, bake it, grow it” products. From custom-made clothing to freshly baked breads and cookies, we’re doing it up right as we wrap up our 5th and most successful season.
 
Here are just some of this season’s highlights:

The Big Move – We kicked off Season #5 with a move to Vallarta's most notable town square, Lazaro Cárdenas Park. Not only did our shoppers enjoy the wide open spaces and proximity to the ocean, but our producer-only vendors were delighted by great increases in their sales. Congrats to all of the 80+ vendors!

The Young Entrepreneurs Program – This new program celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit of youths between 10 and 16 years of age. Our first program member – and the one to cut our opening day ribbon – is 12-year-old Mireya Amaral Uribe. She designs and sews her own clothing line – Poder de Niña/Girl Power – for girls and their 18-inch dolls. Joining Mireya as team support was her older brother Abraham. But it didn’t take long before he caught the spirit too. Seeing a niche in the market, Abraham began making and selling doll furniture. His company is Casa de Muñeca/The Doll House. (Both businesses are open year-round for custom orders.)

A Rockin’ Season – This season shoppers were “eatin’ to the beat” with lip-smackin’ international favorites and toe-tappin’ tunes from national and international musicians. And this Saturday, we’re doing it all over again.

Endless “Thanks” – So many people contributed to the success of this year’s OTFM-TC, and we want to say “gracias” to our vendors, volunteers and entertainers for their endless support. We’d also like to extend special thanks to the City of Puerto Vallarta, the Licensing Regimentos Tourism and Transito Department and the Emiliano Zapata neighborhood business association. We couldn’t have done it without you!

And don’t forget that Sunday is Mother’s Day, the day that we express our gratitude with “make it, bake it, grow it” goodness. Highlight your celebration with just-picked produce, elegant pastries, chic hobo bags, greeting cards, whiskey, well-being services and so much more.

Season 5 at the OTFM

Twenty travel agents from several cities in Colombia took part in different activities and site inspections in order to familiarize themselves with the destination. Their verdict: Plenty of sales in the near future.
Twenty Colombia travel agents recently enjoyed a FAM trip as part of the promotional plan the Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) is undertaking in that country’s emerging market.

During Easter Week the agents enjoyed the Riviera Nayarit and agreed the Mexican and Colombian cultures have much in common, while also stating the destination is well within economic reach of Colombians.

Amparo Leal, General Manager for Boyaca Tours, was surprised both by the hotel infrastructure in the region and the warmth of Mexican hospitality.

“I honestly did not expect such a spectacular hotel infrastructure,” commented Leal. “Mexicans are excellent hosts and this new destination serves to expand our knowledge and offerings to our clients. We can send plenty of tourism this way because Colombians love Mexico!”

“I’d like to point out that the destination really does preserve the authenticity of the Mexican culture. The Colombians that have already visited the Caribbean need to see how beautiful the Pacific is, because there is certainly a market for this region,” declared Lina María Arcila, Medellin’s Director for Pelícanos Tours.

She also added that the rates were very competitive and accessible for Colombians and wished there was a direct flight sometime soon from Colombia to the Vallarta-Nayarit International Airport.

“Actually, when we were at Anato we talked about this (a direct flight) and we feel it’s very important because clients like flights with few or no stops,” said Arcila.

The agents were lodged at the Hotel Iberostar Playa Mita, Riu Jalisco and Hard Rock Hotel; they experienced an ecotourism adventure at Rancho Mi Chaparrita and were accompanied by Vallarta Adventures to the Marietas Islands.

Site inspections were held at each of the hotels they stayed, as well as Marival Residences, Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit and Occidental Grand. They also visited Sayulita, where they took surfing lessons and ate at Don Pedro’s.

“We’re very grateful to the Riviera Nayarit CVB for this invitation,” said William Díaz, General Manager of Turismo Seis Continentes in Bucaramanga, Colombia. “I didn’t know anything about this destination and now we can recommend it to all Colombians who want to visit, especially because of its hotel infrastructure, its tourism and its handicrafts.”

The Hard Rock Hotel is the eighth hotel to receive this certificate, awarded to businesses that exemplify a commitment to social and environmental responsibility.

The Riviera Nayarit, which prides itself on being a destination that’s pro the environment and the community, recently received its eight EarthCheck certificate.

This time it was the Hard Rock Hotel that recently received a 2014 Silver Certificate from EarthCheck, which it obtained once it passed all of the sustainability procedures needed to achieve accreditation.

EarthCheck is the top environmental benchmarking and certification program in the world.

“I think this gives us one more attribute to add to our list when it comes to selling. It also demonstrates to both the domestic and international tourist that nowadays there are hotels in the Riviera Nayarit which are sensitive to the conservation of the environment, especially since climate change is a global issue,” said Luis Entrala Fábregas, Director of the Hard Rock Hotel.

In order to become certified the interested party must first conduct a check of the environmental health of the company, undergo several benchmarking programs and evaluate its environmental and social impact.

Afterwards it must follow a sustainable plan of action, implement changes in its procedures and its personnel training, verification and compensation, as well as in its monitoring and marketing.

Seven hotels in the Riviera Nayarit have already obtained an EarthCheck certification; the recently inaugurated Iberostar Playa Mita is currently undergoing the procedures necessary to obtain its own certificate.

The list of hotels that are already certified includes Mayan Palace, Grand Mayan, Ocean Breeze, Grand Bliss, Grand Luxxe, Grand Palladium and Hotel Cinco.

The Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau would like to congratulate the Hard Rock Hotel for this achievement, which serves to create an even more attractive destination for tourists visiting Mexico’s Pacific Treasure.

Seventy-two sales and travel agents were trained in Manchester and London and they’re ready to sell Puerto Vallarta and the Riviera Nayarit; they also received complimentary stays so they can get to know the product up close and personal.

The Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta convention and visitors bureaus’ tour through England during the second week of April included interviews and press conferences with the media, but they also held a couple of seminars aimed at promoting the destinations.

The joint campaign under the aegis of the Mexico Tourism Board, “Vallarta-Nayarit, Live it to believe it,” visited Manchester and London to train a total of 72 sales and travel agents.

Together with Milko Rivera, UK Director for the MTB, they updated agents in everything new about the destination with the hopes of facilitating the sales of the properties that are part of the TUI UK program for the upcoming flights departing from both cities.

At the beginning of each event they held a cocktail party for the participants so they could network with hotel representatives from both destinations that included in the TUI UK program. From there they held a Trade Show where the participants had access to all kinds of promotional material from the region. The team trained 51 agents in London and 21 in Manchester.

After the general introduction and as part of their program the team gave presentations for both destinations as well as the participating hotels, each of which raffled off a 7-day stay for the attendees.

The Riviera Nayarit hotels within the program include Dreams Villamagna, Royal Decameron, Hard Rock Hotel, Iberostar Playa Mita, Grand Palladium and all three Riu properties; AM Resorts, Buenaventura and Canto del Sol were present for Puerto Vallarta.

The Vallarta Adventures tour company was also present and added the same number of raffle items to the pot, allowing the winners to choose four of their hottest tours.

These types of complimentary offerings open up sales possibilities for the agents—once they experience the destinations for themselves, they are able to offer the products to their customers along with their own personal recommendations, which, in the end, is the best kind of advertising.

The promotional tour through England taken by the Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta focused on reinforcing support for the new flights from the UK to the region, which will begin next May 1st.

The Convention and Visitors Bureaus of the Riviera Nayarit (OVC) and Puerto Vallarta (OCV), materialized in the second week of April a joint tour to promote TUI starts flights to the region from England.

As part of the public relations strategies around promoting "Vallarta-Nayarit" campaign actions were carried out through mass media means Manchester and London.

In chronological order, work began on the 7th of April, when a press conference in London attended by 50 media outlets in the English capital, among them Conde Nast Traveler, Just About Travel, offered Travel And Leisure Magazine to name a few.

The essential part of this meeting was to follow up the new weekly direct flights from London and Manchester to Gustavo Diaz Ordaz Airport

All After the successful conference, the team moved to Manchester where on the 10 and 11 of April conducted a face to face interviews with eight selected media that talk about topics like fashion, health, beauty, business and travel

Among the means that participated is Mancunian Manchester, who has 400 thousand monthly print and 207 thousand unique visits per month to their web site, as well as working with iLoveManchester.com & Heart Essex Radio, who also has 400 thousand unique visits per month.

Another of the media formats with the most had appointments to interview was the specialist journals, whose editions are monthly or bimonthly, its circulation averages around 20 thousand copies, but due to its specialized content, their readers are more select and visit potential.

Although the publications result from this tour will start to leave little to the public, in a summation on the initial impacts that each medium would provide the tourist corridor, are estimated at around two million British, who will be familiar with the developments in Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit with the resumption of flights of TUI.

[readon1 url="http://notivallarta.com/2014/04/22/vallarta-nayarit-a-la-conquista-del-mercado-ingles/"]Source:notivallarta.com [/readon1]

Discover real Mexican traditions at our Tequila Tour. The Leyva family will personally take you through the cooking, fermenting, distilling and aging process of the Blue Agave.

Then sit back and sample our different grades of Tequila and delicious Tequila liquors (almond, coffee, and mandarin).

The Leyva family welcomes you to the first Tequila factory in the Bay of Banderas.
At our Tequila Distillery, the key factors of our tequila are the flavor and aroma of the blue agave.
Discovered by the natives and later perfected by Spaniards, the origin is uncontested of what has since become famous the world over: Tequila.

Don't miss the opportunity to live the experience; smell, taste, see and feel the artisan process that takes place in our distillery, giving life to white, aged and vintaged Tequila.

We offer Tequila Tours at our three Tequila Factories:  Mezcales, Nayarit, Mismaloya, just south of Puerto Vallarta and San Sebastian, Mascota, Jalico.

[readon1 url="http://www.tequilamamalucia.com/"]Source:www.tequilamamalucia.com [/readon1]

Vallarta Gardens Resort & Spa inaugurated the new Reef Collection villas with an investment of approximately $25 million, which will include the construction of 16 new villas as well as others in the Coral and Sky Garden collections; a spa and a gym are also planned, in addition to the Sea Star group of villas.
Vallarta Gardens Resort & Spa inaugurated its new Reef Collection villas in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, the Nautical Capital of the Riviera Nayarit. The development will include 16 new villas, each with its own unique design.

“The project we’re managing is not your standard or usual hotel accommodations: we call it categoría especial (special category), as they aren’t hotel rooms, they’re villas and each villa belongs to a distinct collection,” explained Jesús Carmona, Director of Operations for Vallarta Gardens.

The Reef Collection villas boast two well-equipped rooms on the first floor with a penthouse on the second, which includes two rooms with a private pool and Jacuzzi.

“Our market encompasses foreign visitors from the United States and Canada as well as the very well-off domestic travelers; right now we’re seeing a resurgence of the visitors we classify as ‘five-star,’ which is why we decided to go this route,” added Carmona.

The total investment of this future development will add up to approximately $25 million and includes not only the Reef Collection, but also the Coral Collection—another series of villas—plus the Sky Garden, which will consist of three buildings with 42 units each.

At this time they already have 56 villas in place; the $25 million investment is the sum total of this master plan that will be built over the next four years.

The project will be under construction during those four years, as they will also add in a spa and a gym. There are already five pools in place, with three more to come. Future projects also include the construction of a small marina.

“I have been working with the Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) since we opened in the Riviera Nayarit,” said Carmona. “We have worked side-by-side and I have always said this is an excellent CVB, they have an extraordinary team and they manage the destination very well.”

The Riviera Nayarit CVB would like to congratulate Carlos Rivera, the General Director of Vallarta Gardens, for such an excellent product and for his magnificent vision, which will greatly enhance the growth and development of the region of La Cruz de Huanacaxtle. This project dovetails perfectly with the CVB’s objective of increasing Premium Tourism to the area.