Mexico: Coming to a City Near You

Longing to get to the beach this winter? Wait no more. The Mexico Tourism Board is bringing some of Mexico’s warmth up north, with mobile displays hitting the streets of the coldest cities in Canada and the United States for eight weeks this winter to showcase some of the attractions making the country the number one tourism destination for North Americans.

Heated, glass-sided buses filled with sand, beach chairs and scaled-down versions of palm trees will make their debut November 4, showing residents of the chilly Canadian urbs of Edmonton , Calgary , Montreal , Vancouver and Toronto just what they’re missing. The “beaches on wheels” will then circulate around such U.S. cities as Boston , Chicago , Detroit , New York and Minneapolis , concluding their tour December 28.

To show that Mexico has much more than beaches to offer the traveler, the mobile displays will also include spa beds made to look like authentic archaeological pieces, transporting visitors to ancestral times while illustrating one of Mexico’s main draws for the luxury traveler. Informative videos of Mexico’s attractions will play on television screens mounted inside icons of the Aztec Goddess of Flowing Water, Chalchiuhtlicue , while “archeologists” explore ruins. The buses will also be decorated with lush vegetation, reinforcing Mexico’s positioning as a top spot for adventure tourism and ecotourism.

And if physical warmth were not enough, the beaches on wheels will also showcase Mexico’s world-renowned hospitality. Male and female sunbathers will invite passersby to lounge in the sand, while models donning traditional Mexican clothing will be handing out brochures and promotional items. Mexico specialists will be on hand to provide additional information to residents, as well as capture their contact information on a PDA which will later be used to send links to the Mexico Tourism Board’s main information sources: the toll-free information line 1-800-44-MEXICO and the Web site www.visitmexico.com . The exteriors of the buses will also be painted with the vivid colors of Mexico ’s logo.

North America ’s main tour operators will be teaming up with the Mexico Tourism Board’s marketing office to organize special events for consumers and travel industry representatives surrounding the “beaches on wheels” promotion.

Mexico’s “beaches on wheels” were conceived by the Mexico Tourism Board in 2004 as a way to positively influence the travel decisions of North Americans, who often make their choice of vacation on a whim but who tend to choose beach destinations as the weather in their home cities grows chillier. Due to their tremendous popularity, the thematic buses were brought back in 2005, their focus expanded beyond beaches to nature tourism. The “beaches on wheels” have been seen by an estimated two million people each year and have already won three international publicity awards, including first prize at the Iberoamerican Publicity Festival.

Close to 90 percent of Mexico’s nearly 22 million international tourists came from the United States and Canada in 2005, and the cities the beaches on wheels will visit this year represent some of Mexico’s most important international feeder markets. This year, the industry publication Canadian Travel Press voted Mexico the top winter vacation destination for Canadians for the seventh year in a row.

“The ‘beaches on wheels’ should be considered a holiday gift from Mexico to Canada and the U.S. —a dose of warmth just when it is needed most,” said Magdalena Carral, CEO of the Mexico Tourism Board. “It is our hope that the people who see our mobile displays will understand that Mexico welcomes them with open arms the year long, and particularly when the temperature drops.”

For more information on when and where Mexico’s beaches on wheels will be making a stop, an updated calendar will be available on www.visitmexico.com , and the contact information of the Mexico Tourism Board’s North American marketing offices can be found on www.visitmexicopress.com.

About the Mexico Tourism Board
The Mexico Tourism Board (MTB) brings together the resources of federal and state governments, municipalities and private companies to promote Mexico's tourism attractions and destinations internationally. Created in 1999, the MTB is Mexico’s tourism promotion agency, and its participants include members of both the private and public sectors. The MTB has offices throughout North America, Europe, Japan and Latin America.

About Chichen-Itza, the World Wonder
Swiss-based New7Wonders Foundation is revising the original seven ancient wonders of the world, and Mexico’s Chichen-Itza in Yucatan State is one of 21 finalists to become a new Seven World Wonder. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998, Chichen-Itza is considered to have been one of the greatest Mayan centers of the Yucatan peninsula, and today is one of the largest and most impressive archaeological sites in Mexico. To vote for Chichen-Itza as one of the new Seven World Wonders, visit www.new7wonders.com

FOR PRESS ONLY: For additional ideas, help with a story or general travel and tourism information about Mexico, please contact the Mexico Travel News Bureau directly at 1-800-929-4555, by e-mail at northamericanpress@visitmexico.com, or visit our press web site at www.visitmexicopress.com.

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Erick Laseca
Mexico Tourism Board
312-228-0517 x14
312-228-0515 fax
erick.laseca@bm.com