Mexican Government And Business Leaders Present Progress Of The
Marca Pais Program
MEXICO CITY,
Nov. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The
Mexico Ministry of Tourism, the Business Coordinating Council, the
Ministry of the Economy and the Mexico Tourism Board presented the
progress of the Marca Pais program, a strategy that has
strengthened the image of Mexico
abroad and increased the number of international
visitors.
Over the past two years, this partnership between the
federal government and private sector has resulted in a rise in
Mexico's position in international
perception indicators in regions including the United States, Europe, and Asia.
The Marca Pais strategy worked in five strategic pillars,
to highlight strengths in areas including tourism, culture,
economy, investment, and sustainability.
Secretary of Tourism Gloria
Guevara Manzo noted that the results achieved towards
repositioning Mexico's image
abroad took shape due to the teamwork and commitment of the
business leaders and tourism ambassadors who joined the campaign,
including Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, soccer player with Manchester
United; actress Salma Hayek; model
Jimena Navarrete; singer
Alejandro Fernandez; Sergio "Checo"
Perez, Formula One driver; actor Diego
Luna; Olympic diver Paola
Espinosa, and golfer Lorena
Ochoa.
She said that the strategy included an intensive
international public relations campaign with the media, opinion
leaders, and special events, as well as engagement with celebrities
visiting Mexico, including
Andre Agassi, Sylvester Stallone, Mario Lopez, Jennifer
Lopez, Enrique Iglesias,
Rachael Ray, Britney Spears and Eva
Longoria, among others.
Secretary Guevara said that as a result of this promotion
strategy, Mexico achieved growth
in the number of international visitors of 143 nationalities;
moreover, Mexico increased U.S.
market share from 16 percent to 19 percent as a destination for
American travelers.
The Marca Pais program participated in special events
including the 2012 London Olympics, the Cannes Lions Festival,
Formula One, the Pan American Games and the Tianguis Turistico, as
well as the Centenary of the Revolution, Tijuana Innovadora,
Bicentennial of Independence, the Mayan World program, and meetings
such as COP 16, Green Solutions, T20,
B20, G20, WTTC, WEF, and many others.
Marca Pais participated in the execution of the
documentary Flight of the Butterflies and Mexico, The Royal Tour; in addition, the
program had a presence at sporting activities including sailing and
the World Rally Championship (WRC), which allowed the inclusion of
the brand in the WRC's new videogame for XBOX 360.
Gerardo Gutierrez Candiani,
President of the Business Coordinating Council, recognized the
success of Mexico's promotional
campaigns abroad.
He said that due to the teamwork of the initiative, Marca
Pais is seeing strong results, and that it is the responsibility of
all sectors to maintain these efforts and share the many benefits
that Mexico offers the
world.
He notes that the strategy supported Mexico in overcoming challenges such as the
H1N1 influenza and the global economic crisis in regions such as
the United States and Europe, as well as security
concerns.
Jose Antonio Toree,
Undersecretary for Competitiveness and Business Regulation of the
Ministry of Economy, said that today a clear trend can be seen with
regards to Mexico's rising
competitiveness, based on key global indicators.
He mentioned as an example the ranking of the World
Economic Forum (WEF), in which Mexico has advanced 13 positions in the last
two years, to rank 53rd among 144 nations; in addition, the Doing
Business indicator, issued by the World Bank, indicates that
Mexico has improved six positions
in the last two years, while the global ranking of the Institute
for Management Development indicates that Mexico has advanced 13 places in the past four
years, among the 59 countries evaluated.
Rodolfo Lopez Negrete,
Chief Operating Officer of the Mexico Tourism Board, along with
Jaime Diaz, Executive Director of
Marca Pais, highlighted efforts to strengthen the campaign in
social networks and through advertising campaigns such as the
Mexico Taxi Project and Mexico Today, with strong impact in the
U.S. and European markets.
He also acknowledged the business leaders who have
contributed to the Marca Pais initiative, including Claudio X. Gonzalez, Guillermo Romo, Jose
Zozaya Delano, Manuel Medina
Mora, Patricia Ruiz Corzo,
Emilio Azcarraga, Ricardo Salinas, Ernesto Coppel, Sir
Martin Sorrell, Andrew Selee, Louise
Goeser, Francisco Gonzalez,
Antonio Chedrahui, Johathan Barker,
Alejandro Ramirez, Carlos Slim and Daniel Servitje, among many
others.
For more information, please contact:
Jennifer Risi
Ogilvy Public Relations
Jennifer.Risi@ogilvy.com or +1-646-240-6297
SOURCE Mexico Tourism Board