President Felipe Calderon announces promotional campaign “Vive México”

· Calderon emphasized that “Vive Mexico” unites world renowned celebrities and personalities from the business, cultural, sports, and entertainment world with the objective to reactivate national and international tourism. · Minister of Tourism, Rodolfo Elizondo, highlighted the importance of tourism for the economic development of the country. Mexico City, May 26th, 2009- On Monday, May 25th, Mexico’s President, Felipe Calderon, announced Mexico’s national promotional campaign titled “Vive Mexico,” as part of the country’s goal to reactivate tourism and counteract the negative image generated by the recent health crisis. Calderon announced that the government will invest approximately $92 million dollars in campaigns to promote the country and invited all Mexicans to participate as "ambassadors" and unite in this effort that seeks to reactivate the nation's tourism industry. "I invite every Mexican to show international tourists how visiting our nation is a great experience; that Mexico is not only a beautiful country, but is also strong and capable of facing the toughest adversities. We await visitors from all over the world with open arms to our beaches, cities, and towns. This should be a true national movement that needs the participation of every Mexican citizen," said President Calderon. Minister of Tourism, Rodolfo Elizondo, added that the website www.ofertasvivemexico.com will be launched in order to offer special travel packages to all the different destinations in the country. "The ‘Vive Mexico’ campaign will include unique prices and attractive offers that will motivate the domestic market to travel. This segment represents 85 percent of the country’s tourism generated income," said Elizondo. Following the presentation of the campaign spots, testimonials from personalities such as Spanish tenor Placido Domingo, world’s leading female golfer Lorena Ochoa, Mexican singer Alejandro Fernandez, internationally acclaimed actor Diego Luna and professional soccer player Rafael Marquez, were presented.