Agents from the United States and Canada toured the Riviera Nayarit during FAM trips that included collaboration with the Iberostar Playa Mita hotel in order to demonstrate how these two microdestinations can complement each other.

The synergy between Punta de Mita’s luxury hotel services and other nearby microdestinations such as Sayulita is undeniable. This inspired the Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) to unite the two for a couple of recent FAM trips held for groups of North American travel agents.

The Riviera Nayarit CVB invited members of the Groups Call Center for tour operator and airline WestJet to a FAM trip in mid-June. The Iberostar Playa Mita hosted another trip for Beach Bum Vacations’ travel agents, which included the participation of the Riviera Nayarit CVB.

“The idea behind this is simple: in Sayulita there are many villas but there are no all-inclusive services, while in Punta de Mita there are luxury accommodations that offer this service. Their proximity creates a synergy that offers wholesalers an important sales tool,” explained Marc Murphy, Managing Director for the Riviera Nayarit CVB.

Thirteen agents from the WestJet Call Center that specialize in groups and incentives were invited and attended a dinner seminar at the Iberostar. WestJet Airlines has strong airlift from Canada that strengthens the Destination, with flights from Calgary, Toronto, Quebec, Ottawa, Saskatoon, and other cities in Canada and the US.

The group of 16 from wholesaler Beach Bum Vacations invited by Iberostar had the opportunity to enjoy this all-inclusive hotel’s amenities in Punta de Mita, but they also were able to experience the laid-back lifestyle of Sayulita. Only top agents from this particular wholesaler were invited on this FAM trip.

Beach Bum Vacations has extensive experience in the weddings, honeymoon and family travel markets, all of which are perfectly aligned with what the Riviera Nayarit has to offer.

The Riviera Nayarit’s Culinary Ambassador will participate in this Tv Azteca production in conjunction with Discovery Home & Health; it will air in Mexico and Latin America.

Chef Betty Vázquez, Culinary Ambassador for the Riviera Nayarit, was named as one of three judges for the first-ever Master Chef Mexico, a reality cooking show in search of the countries most talented amateur chef.

“The show airs very soon. It’s a very well produced series born of a lot of effort on behalf of its participants and months of searching throughout Mexico for the first #MasterChefMx. I’m very proud to be a part of it,” said Chef Betty Vázquez.

Betty has championed the cuisine of Nayarit, placing it front and center stage during her years of traveling around the world together with the Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau. Now she will be on Tv Azteca for 16 consecutive Sundays starting on June 28, 2015.

“The destination brought us together and gave us the opportunity to be a part of this marvelous project,” she added. She also stated “the challenge for participants is to win thanks to their talent as cooks and proudly represent the first generation of participants in Master Chef Mexico.”

The Tv Azteca production was completed in conjunction with Discovery Home & Health, which will transmit the programs through Latin America starting on July 9, 2015.

There are 18 handpicked participants from several regions in the country, chosen from a casting call of 9,000. They passed several qualifying rounds and will now vie for the top award and take home a prize of one million pesos.

Anette Michel will host the program; Benito Molina and Adrián Herrera will join Betty Vázquez at the judges’ table. For more details please click http://www.eltrece.mx/masterchef.

The Riviera Nayarit hosted the 20th anniversary of Integra Destinos & Convenciones and also participated in Chicago’s IBTM America and Monterrey’s Expo Tu Boda, reinforcing the MICE segment.

The Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) was very busy in the past few days positioning the Destination within the Meetings Tourism Market via its Promotion and Groups departments.

The MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) segment was reinforced on a national and an international level in Nuevo Vallarta, Monterrey and Chicago. The Destination hosted 491 events of this kind, with the participation of approximately 100 thousand participants.

20th Anniversary For Integra

The celebration of the 20th anniversary of Integra Destinos & Convenciones served to inaugurate Nuevo Vallarta’s new Hard Rock Hotel Convention Center on June 20th. The Groups and Events department of the Riviera Nayarit CVB helped make the event happen, which was attended by 250 national meeting planners with the support of 10 of the Destination’s hotels.

IBTM America

The Promotions Department of the Riviera Nayarit CVB in collaboration with the Mexico Tourism Board participated in Chicago’s IBTM America from June 9-11. Eighty face-to-face business meetings took place there with the most exclusive meeting planners in the US.

IBTM America is the world’s most important showcase for the MICE segment, providing business solutions across six continents via eight regional and international events.

Expo Tu Boda

From June 13-14, representative teams from the Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta attended the traditional Expo Tu Boda held in Monterrey, considered to be the largest Romance Expo in Latin America. There they presented the Destinations’ idyllic landscapes and first-class services to around 3,000 brides-to-be.

Over the past 7 years, California has continually topped the list of states of origin for visitors from the United States to the Destination; as a result, there are new incoming flights from that area as well as intense promotional activity.

The Riviera Nayarit has found its favorite natural market in California—this is why it was the site of the most important Promotional Tour held during the month of June, sponsored by the Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB).

Dinner seminars for 230 travel agents were held in San Diego, Newport Beach and Los Angeles. Thirty business partners including hotels, airlines and tour operators also attended the events.

Several strong accounts in the luxury market enjoyed specialized workshops during the tour; these included Protravel, Balboa Travel, Worldview Travel and Altour, just to mention a few. There was also an open house held at Pleasant Holidays, where 60 reservations, groups and weddings agents working with this important tour operator received updates.

“During the past seven years—at least—California has been the state that sends over the most tourists to the Riviera Nayarit, even during the crisis. It’s essential that we keep its agents updated and offer them the latest sales tools so we can continue to count on their presence within the Destination,” assured Marc Murphy, Managing Director for the Riviera Nayarit CVB.

The new Southwest and Alaska Airlines flights from Orange County that started this year were the topic of conversation during the presentations by the Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta.

The stats gathered from the Riviera Nayarit CVB’s Survey confirm California’s lead as a market of origin to the Destination. In 2014, 27.5% of tourists from the US came from California.

California is so important for Nayarit that the State Government holds an annual Nayarit Fair in California for all the ex-residents that now call that state home.

The St. Regis Punta Mita Resort, in conjunction with Punta Mita Expeditions, Punta Mita Resorts, and the Riviera Nayarit Convention & Visitors Bureau, is ready to welcome the Third Annual Punta Mita Beach Festival.

The Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta updated dozens of top-selling travel agents for the Destinations; the teams also participated in the Feria Arlag, attended by thousands of travel agents.

The Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta hosted several appreciation breakfasts and dinners in Guadalajara from June 15-18 to thank and incentivize travel agents belonging to top-selling wholesalers for the Destinations.

On the 19th the joint teams also participated in the XXXVIII Feria Internacional Arlag, attended by thousands of travel agents.

“In 2014 Guadalajara topped the list of cities of origin for visitors to the Riviera Nayarit. We have to acknowledge these top-selling travel agents so they know how valuable they are to us and continue to work hard at what they do best,” commented Marc Murphy, Managing Director for the Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB).

The activities began on Monday the 15th with a dinner for 12 wholesalers. On Tuesday the 16th the teams hosted a breakfast for 20 top agencies from Record Vacations; that same afternoon another 20 travel agents from the same company received the latest updates from the destinations. These activities were repeated on Wednesday the 17th for wholesaler Imacop.

A breakfast was held on Thursday the 18th for 70 travel agents from different wholesalers throughout Guadalajara; representatives from 30 hotels from both destinations were present during this event.

XXXVIII Feria Internacional Arlag

The teams took advantage of their trip to Guadalajara to participate in the Feria Internacional Arlag, an event focused on tourism industry service providers including airlines, wholesale operators, shipping companies, tourism destinations, car rental agencies and hotel chains, among others.

200 exhibitors and a thousand travel agents from all over the Republic of Mexico were present at this event.

• Representatives from six British media titles toured the Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta in order to take back with them information that will generate over 70 million impressions with just one published story each.

The consistent efforts by the Public Relations department of the Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) together with the Puerto Vallarta Tourism Trust (Fidetur) continue with this most recent FAM trip for the British press.

For one week starting on June 13th reporters from the UK were able to tour both destinations, amassing information on this tourism region that will eventually make its way to the European market.

The main objective of the trip is to maximize the exposure of both destinations within the British market and its environs. It was organized around a group of six top British media and their combined reach, which will surpass 70 million positive impressions.

Participating media and their combined Unique Monthly Visits (UMV) include: Travel Weekly UK (Circ. 14,572), Mirror Online (65,508,400 UMV) Good Housekeeping Online (570,000 UMV), Chelsea Monthly (Circ. 150,000), Yahoo! UK (5,446,970 UMV), and New Magazine (Circ. 310,190).

The variety of participating media was chosen in order to reach different market segments in one trip.

Mirror Online is part of the largest paper in the UK, Daily Mirror, with an enormous reach. Travel Weekly is a tourism-oriented publication; Good Housekeeping Online is the UK’s top-selling monthly women’s lifestyle title; and Yahoo! UK is a wide-reaching information source with a diverse audience.

This is another example of how the Riviera Nayarit CVB and Puerto Vallarta’s Fidetur continue to invest wisely in foreign media promotion, ensuring the gastronomy, the luxurious hotel infrastructure, the spa services, the ecotourism activities, the adventure and the traditional Mexican culture that dominate the region will all serve to encourage ever-growing numbers of visitors from the UK in the upcoming months.

The Activities and Outcomes Report for the first trimester of 2015 presented to the Banderas Bay Hotel and Motel Association (AHMBB, by its acronym in Spanish), spells out all the actions undertaken by the different departments of the Riviera Nayarit CVB from January through March. 

Puerto Vallarta, Jal.- Riviera Nayarit Visitors and convention Center (OVC) through its Department of Promotion and Sales, as well as Puerto Vallarta Office of Tourism (Fidetur), where pleased to welcome a group of Peruvian travel agents, and were pleased to share some selling skills with them.

These activities are part of Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta joined campaign in collaboration with Mexico Board of Tourism (CPTM), with the participation of Aeromexico Airline.

OVC’s Promotion and Sales Department maintain a work connection with six Peruvian Tour operators (TO); they sent a group of 12 people, including managers, leaders and executives from travel agencies sales and commercial areas. Some other travel agencies had previously sent people from other areas. The idea is to diversify tourism sale options in their country; to fulfill their objective, it is important to have Tourist Operator experts in Peru.

The first three days of the trip were spent in Puerto Vallarta, where they took a look at different hotels and visited traditional spots. From there, they proceeded to the north of Rio Ameca, where the visitors enjoyed tasting the organic products and got acquainted with the cultural values of San Pancho. They continued to Sayulita, from where they considered it unfeasible to leave without riding the waves; so they took a few surfing lessons.

Nuevo Vallarta and Punta de Mita, were mandatory stops to check the destination’s options in hotels infrastructure. They also visited the Marietas Islands, which is the destination’s icon. They were fascinated by them. Upon visiting the islands, they portrayed the great interest Playa Escondida (the Hidden Beach) in Peru has triggered.

[readon1 url="index.php?option=com_sobipro&pid=1&sid=703:mar&Itemid=212"]Source:www.VallartaToday.com-by MAR Translation Services[/readon1]

Stats from January through March of this year indicate increases over last year’s percentages in the number of passengers arriving via air, hotel occupancy, room nights, revenue and online sales.

• A total of 38 South American tour operators in Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru are currently part of the joint Riviera Nayarit/Puerto Vallarta campaign.

The joint Riviera Nayarit/Puerto Vallarta campaign, spearheaded by the Mexico Tourism Board (MTB), has been in negotiations with the most important tour operators in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile and Peru, thanks to the recent increase of tourists from these countries to Mexico.

The MTB conducted promotions, advertising and institutional public relations within these countries, all considered emerging markets for Mexico. The MTB reported that in 2014 there was a 10.1% increase in tourists arriving via air versus 2013: Brazil increased its visitors by 13.7%, Colombia by 24.7% and Chile by 24.4%.

Three new tour operators from Colombia recently affiliated themselves with the joint campaign, as did the most important tour operator from Brazil. The 38 tour operators that cooperate with both destination are divided as follows: eight in Colombia, nine in Brazil, eight in Argentina, seven in Chile and six in Peru.

“The addition of tour operators in Colombia and Brazil is reinforcing the reach of our joint campaign, especially considering what we already have established in Argentina, Chile and Peru,” said Marc Murphy, Director for the Riviera Nayarit CVB. “We look forward to an increase in the number of room nights sold during the 2015-2016 winter season.”

It’s important to note these emerging markets are searching for new tourism destinations that fit their profile, and both the Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta are excellent alternatives for South America.

These tour operators are businesses that create and/or distribute trips and different tourism services to attract visitors. The also collaborate with travel agencies to achieve their objectives.