Quintana Roo Forges Ahead: A State at its Peak & in Constant Evolution
Cancún, Q.Roo. México, September 20th, 2010. - Quintana Roo has positioned itself internationally as a state which is incomparable in the tourism industry, offering first class infrastructure and services, capable of competing with and surpassing the most successful international destinations. The state is well known for making the most of its natural diversity, capitalizing on the investment and confidence of the international tourism industry, commented the Minister for Tourism, Sara Latife Ruiz Chávez.
The Minister emphasized that this has led to the development of world famous tourist locations, both in the leisure travel segment and in the congresses, conventions and incentive travel market.
While being interviewed about what Mexico’s main tourist destination can offer, Ruiz Chávez commented that Quintana Roo is a state with unique natural wealth, the cultural and historical heritage of the Mayan culture and the glamour and luxury of a cosmopolitan resort, enabling it to offer a diversity of travel experiences for all kinds of tourism; from adventure and ecotourism, to fashion, gastronomy and culture, among others. As a tourist destination the Mexican Caribbean offers 81,614 hotel rooms distributed throughout the 190 kilometres of this paradise full of nature and history.
The state is proud to be the home of resorts of the stature of CANCUN, recently rated by Orbitz as its number one destination worldwide and number two on its list of the 10 best summer destinations for 2010.
It is also noteworthy that CANCUN is one of the destinations with the best air connectivity, served by more than 146 direct flights from around the world and with an airport that has a capacity for handling up to 18 million passengers per year. With Cancun’s ever increasing number of flights its accessibility continues to grow. Recently Delta Airlines increased its number of direct flights to Cancun by four, from the cities of Austin and San Antonio (Texas), Columbus (Ohio), and Tampa (Florida). Next November, British Airways will begin weekly direct flights from London, Gatwick. Additionally, Virgin America will launch its direct flights to Cancun from Los Angeles and San Francisco in January 2011.
The destination has had great success with the implementation of the circuits programme called “Cancun and the Treasures of the Caribbean”, which offers tourists the chance to enjoy the natural, cultural and gastronomic wealth of Puerto Morelos and the Mexican Caribbean’s four islands: Holbox, habitat of the whale shark and the perfect place for water activities; Isla Mujeres, a picturesque town of fishermen with 480 years of history; Contoy, a sanctuary for 250 species of fish and 150 kinds of birds, and Cozumel, a scuba diving paradise with a barrier reef that is the second largest and most visited in the world.
The Minister for Tourism pointed out that the Riviera Maya is another jewel on the coastline of Quintana Roo, offering the archaeological zones of Cobá and Tulum to the world; Playa del Carmen, the cosmopolitan heart of the Riviera Maya, as well as the ecotourism parks of Xcaret, Xel-ha, Xplor, Rio Secreto and the Sian Ka’án Biosphere Reserve (located on the Mayan zone), declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The Riviera Maya Jazz Festival will take place here from November 25 - 28, where jazz fans will be able to enjoy performances by important artists in the setting of one of the most spectacular beaches in the world.
Quintana Roo has positioned itself as an important congresses, conventions and incentive travel destination, with both Cancún and the Riviera Maya being constantly selected as venues for important international events. Recently Cancun Messe opened its doors as the largest exhibition centre in Latin America; located in Puerto Morelos it is only 10 kilometres from Cancun’s international airport and 40 minutes from the Riviera Maya. In its first section Cancun Messe has 98,490 square feet of space for exhibitions and 134,991 square feet of outdoor space. The exhibitions area is made up of 33 halls equipped with the latest in world class technology and services, enabling it to organize large sized exhibitions, congresses, events and fairs. In the month of September the exhibition centre hosted the “Latin American Food Show” but it will be officially inaugurated when it hosts of the most relevant and important Climate Change Summit in the world: the sixteenth “Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change” (COP 16) which will take place from November 29t to December 10t, 2010.
