Reportur.com's Most Powerful Influencers Of Tourism in Mexico
August 15, 2014
According to Wikipedia, in 2013, Mexico ranked #2 in the Americas for International Tourist Arrivals and #15 in the world (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Tourism_rankings). In the Americas, the United States was ranked first and Canada, Brazil and Argentina were ranked #3, #4, and #5, respectively in 2013. Twenty three point seven million International Travelers arrived in Mexico in 2013, which was slightly more than the year before.How does this compare with the rest of the world? Fifteenth, behind #1 - France (84.7 MM), #2 - US (69.8 MM), #3 - Spain (60.7 MM), #4 - China (55.7 MM), #5 - Italy (47.7 MM), #6 - Turkey (37.8 MM), #7 - Germany (31.5 MM), #8 - United Kingdom (31.2 MM), #9 - Russia (28.4 MM), #10 - Thailand (26.5 MM), #11 - Malaysia (25.7 MM), #12 - Hong Kong, China (25.6 MM), #13 - Austria (24.8 MM), #14 - Ukraine (24.6 MM) and #15 - Mexico (23.7 MM).
Clearly, tourism is an important contributor to Mexico's economy. We who are counted in the International Tourist Arrivals in Mexico have benefited tremendously. Puerto Vallarta has spent large sums of money to improve the Malecon. Riviera Maya is a fast growing area in Mexico. Other locations like San Jose del Cabo, Puerto Penasco and Acapulco are growing too.
As owners of Luxxe and other Grupo Vidanta rights to use contracts, we have the ability to visit seven beautiful cities with beach front resorts. Although we are happy about the facilities we can access, we did not know the relative importance of the owner of Grupo Vidanta among his peers.
The online magazine Reportur.com developed its list of the most powerful influencers of tourism in Mexico. The article is interesting, if not revealing.
To set the stage, "Tianguis" is an open air market. The Tianguis Turistico is a gathering that takes place annually. For 36 years, the event took place in Acapulco. In 2012, the event made its first ever move, and it was to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. In 2013, the hosting city was Puebla; in 2014, the host city was Cancun and in 2015, the Tianguis Turistico event will return to Acapulco.
Following is the article:
Interesting! Although the article was translated from Spanish to English by Google Translate and is not entirely clear, we certainly get the gist. Tourism is very important to the future of Mexico's economy, and Grupo Vidanta is right in the middle of it all.
After the Tianguis and is the 'Top 10 REPORTUR' of Mexico's most powerful in tourism
The celebration of the Tianguis Turistico has been a good barometer to gauge who are the 10 most powerful today in the Mexican tourism, collected in this 'Top 10 REPORTUR' based on the millions of income from their businesses; social leadership; ability to influence major decisions; prospects remain at its current level; and assets or number of rooms, fleet or number of reservations and customers worldwide in a ranking order by degree of importance.
Source: Reportur.com - http://www.reportur.com/mexico/2014/05/12/tras-el-tianguis-asi-queda-el-top-10-reportur-de-los-mexicanos-mas-poderosos-en-el-turismo/
- Zozaya Alex, CEO of Apple Leisure Group, based near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, leads the 'top 10' of the most powerful Mexican tourism thanks to direct a conglomerate that is the first customer of the resort hotels in the country with annual sales of around four billion dollars.
Zozaya is the chief executive of the largest American tour operator, Apple Vacations, and since last year also adds to its emitting area online at CheapCaribbean.com and Travel Impressions agencies, while analyzing other acquisitions in this area.
To this we must add a young but growing hotel chain, AM Resorts, founded in 2001 by himself after convincing his father and then chief John Mullen, and which has since been supported by Gonzalo del Peon and Javier Coll.
Zozaya expected AMResorts 2016-whose brands are Secrets, Dreams, Zoetry, Sunscape, Now and Breathless- have 39 accommodation centers with 15 000 138 destinations in 15 keys, compared to 32 hotels with 12,000 keys in 13 locations with which has currently.
These companies together, which can be calculated approximately valued at 2 billion dollars assets, moving two million passengers a year, while only in Mexico Apple carries more than a million passengers, Cancun and the Riviera Maya as main destinations.
Zozaya The first position in the 'top 10 REPORTUR' is also justified in their social leadership because although not head any tourist association, their public pronouncements are always critical, giving voice to the feeling of the majority of the industry, often remain silent for fear of reprisals individuals.
Zozaya has the respect of political and business figures in the country for putting the general interests of the tourism sector at the cost of risking themselves, and their ability to set the course to follow, as demonstrated by their strong reactions in 2009 to virus AH1N1, unlike the timid government response during this event, and more recently his refusal to tax increases .
Charismatic and has a strong professional ambition, his goal is to turn AMResorts largest hotel chain in the Caribbean in number of rooms managed, which is about to do with the planned investments, while seeking to grow in the station area to Through online business.
- Julian Balbuena, president and shareholder of BestDay Travel, has made the online agency that conceived by Fernando García Zalvidea the first company of the tourist station based in Mexico, this 2014 with the aim of reaching the three million travelers.
Balbuena's second place in this classification is also justified in penetrating the BestDay Travel group has physical travel agencies, as well as its online agency BestDay and less known than it is your tool e-Travel Solutions.
At the same time, BestDay, Cancun also offers a powerful receptive white label makes other competing OTAs like Travelocity, and is responsible for managing wholesale Aeromexico and Volaris, thanks to which the group is growing at a rate of 20 percent per year, and achieved revenues last year of about $ 600 million.
For the future, BestDay will put the focus of growth in Argentina and Brazil, the two countries where its main rival, Despegar.com , has its strengths, but its prestige in Latin America is challenged by the succession of fines and discomfort of suppliers such as airlines, in contrast to BestDay, which Tiger Global owns 30%, which is almost unanimously recognized by the industry for its integrity.
- Pablo Azcarraga, chairman of Grupo Posadas and the National Confederation of Tourism Management (CNET), leads the largest hotel chain in Latin capital now looking to grow in the 'all inclusive', in addition to the most important tourist association in the Americas .
With assets with an estimated value of more than 2 billion dollars, Posadas brands are Live Aqua, Fiesta Americana Grand, Fiesta Americana, Fiesta Inn, One and the Explorean, totaling 19,000 rooms in approximately 110 hotels, after reduce its portfolio two years ago with the sale of 15 hotels to the then weak financial position of their group.
Pablo Azcarraga, who took several months to the direction of the company after the departure of his brother Gaston Azcarraga legal problems after the bankruptcy of Mexicana Airlines, last incorporate 25 hotels in different regimes, a Grupo Posadas present in 58 locations Mexicans.
The rebirth of Posadas has with his other symptoms expansion plan in its favoritism to stay Occidental Hoteles, as exclusive REPORTUR.mx advance in an auction in which he competed with global giants in the hotel such as Marriott, Hyatt, Barceló or Iberostar.
With about 250 million dollars in annual revenue, a listed hotel has its president a representative of the more complacent public sector authorities to other hoteliers.
- Daniel Chavez, president of Vidanta Group, is Mexico's largest resort hotel chain with 25 hotels and 7000 rooms, through its brands Grand Luxxe, The Grand Bliss, The Grand Mayan, The Bliss, Mayan Palace, Sea Garden and Mansions of the World, annual revenues totaling $ 600 million.
More focused on the real estate side, the group also has 5 golf courses and last more media project has been to bring Riviera Maya the second Circus of the Sun rising after Las Vegas, one also advanced investment scoop at the time by REPORTUR.mx.
Daniel Chavez, based in Guadalajara and famous for its extreme discretion 5 Hotels with plans to add about 1,500 rooms altogether, intended to raise while in Buenos Aires which is considered as' the first six-star hotel in Latin America ', the' Mansions of the World ", in Puerto Madero.
- Tricio Eduardo Haro, president of Aeromexico, since last year is the largest shareholder, with 20 percent of the capital of Mexico's largest airline with a fleet of 115 aircraft, flying to 80 destinations connecting to 19 countries, and had revenues in 2013 of just over 3 billion dollars, with 15.4 million passengers, and a net profit of 80 million dollars.
The airline, before the arrival of Tricio to its shareholders, announced in 2012 the largest investment program in the history of aviation in Mexico, with the purchase of 90 Boeing 737s and 10 Boeing Over 787 Dreamliner, and since last Delta also has a shareholder with 4 percent and most securities traded on the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV).
Eduardo came to shareholders Tricio Aeromexico from the chairmanship of Lala Group, the dairy industry which supplies half of the Mexican market, so its outreach with the airline is not very high, leaving these functions to Andres Conesa, CEO from , 2005.
- Luis Barrios, CEO of City Express Hotels has achieved in the past 12 years since he founded the chain touch the hundred establishments, which also enjoy high returns, after becoming the first Mexican to venture into the category of low-cost targeted to the business traveler, totaling almost 10,000 rooms.
Luis Barrios had been CEO for almost 13 years Posadas, from 1986 to 1999 and now projected to reach 84 units City Hotels in Mexico after opening eight hotels by the end of 2013, estarando present in 56 cities in 28 states of Mexico .
Its brands are City Express, City Suites and Junior City, and in 2013 revenues were approximately $ 85 million, and net income stood at $ 6 million. The focus of Luis Barrios, after going public last year, is now extending its expansion to the rest of Latin America, starting in countries like Colombia.
- Miguel Aleman Magnani, CEO and owner of Interjet, leads the second largest airline in Mexico, with a fleet of 48 aircraft, 42 Airbus and 6 Superjet 100, flying at about 40 locations, 6 of them abroad. The German name is synonymous with political-business vein in Mexico, which today lies in the third dynasty of Miguel Aleman.
For this 2014, Interjet's main objectives are to increase the number of aircraft and destinations to acquire 40 Airbus and 20 Superjet 320, as I expected the next entry to the BMV. The airline carried last year to 7.5 million people on domestic flights, with a domestic market share to 24 percent level, while expected to spend 8.5 million passengers in 2013 to 10,500,000 passengers this year
- Zahoul Chapur, president and owner of Palace Resorts Group, is the most important of those hotelier originate from the Yucatan Peninsula, and is the hand of a giant with nearly 8,000 rooms and thirty years of history.
In 1984 he founded "Palace Resorts" and opened its first hotel, the Beach Palace Cancun in 1985, being one of the pioneers in the Travel All Inclusive, in a portfolio that grew over the Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort, Sun Palace, Playacar Palace or Le Blanc Spa Resort.
In January 2012, after his rift with his brother Roberto Chapur, Palace Resorts Group separated its 11 hotels in two operators, the latter goes to the Hard Rock Hotel and four, but best known as Pepe Chapur remains one of the most respected voices in Quintana Roo tourism, as it is demonstrating its involvement and multiple statements on the Train transpeninsular and controversial tour.
- Miguel Quintana Pali, president and owner of Xcaret Experiences, which groups the Xcaret, Xel-Ha and Xplor trademarks and Xoximilco and Xenotes, is the first representative of the complementary offer in Mexico and the Riviera Maya, thanks to the nearly 2.3 million visitors each year who receive their parks.
With 1,500 employees, the architect and last another major project, Xenses which program to open in 2015, while in Cancun and Quintana Roo is considered one of Mexico's tourism entrepreneurs reference for their concerns and visibility, as well as high profitability of their businesses.
- Olegario Vazquez Rana, president of Real Tourism Group, which groups the Camino Real, Real, Real Quinta Inn Rooms marks, add some 6000 rooms in almost 40 stores in 25 places in Mexico, although its influence is dwarfed by tourist the magnitude of its other businesses, gathered in Angeles Business Group (GEA), with interests ranging from hospitals to newspapers.
Enrique Guevara | Mexico City | May 12, 2014