Released on = February 1, 2007, 2:35 pm

Press Release Author = Erick Laseca

Industry = Government

Press Release Summary = The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), which now
requires air travelers returning to the United States from Mexico to show a valid
passport, is expected to reduce Mexico's international tourism revenues by only 2.2
percent this year, Tourism Secretary Rodolfo Elizondo said.

Press Release Body = Elizondo took his calculations from estimates released by the
U.S. Department of Commerce and the Office of Homeland Security, which projected
that 318,000 American travelers would cancel or fail to book trips to Mexico as a
result of the passport requirement.

Given that some 5.3 million of the 21.3 million international tourists visiting
Mexico in 2006 were Americans traveling by air, spending an average of US$798 per
stay, the resulting US$254 million in lost revenue will amount to only 2.2 percent
of the US$11.6 billion in international tourism revenues his country expected to
post for the year, he explained.

Mexico's Tourism Secretary added that the number of Americans who traveled to Mexico
by air and did not have passports dropped to merely six percent by January 2007, in
part due to an informational campaign launched in October 2006 by the Mexico Tourism
Board with the support of tour operators, travel agents and other travel industry
representatives.

The initiatives implemented or planned by Mexico to educate consumers about the
United States' new passport requirement have included news releases, micromedia
flashes; information packets; consumer contests and events; and promotional
materials, such as passport holders. The MTB also added the slogan "We want you back
in Mexico. Please get a passport" to its advertising in an attempt to entice U.S.
citizens to obtain their passports.

In addition to the Mexico Tourism Board's efforts, destinations that receive large
numbers of American tourists are also doing their part to educate Americans about
the law. The Cancun Convention and Visitors Bureau has launched "V.I.P., Very
Important Passport" program encouraging U.S. visitors to spread the word. The
campaign will include posters created for high-traffic U.S. vacationer sites that
include relevant U.S. passport information and the U.S. Department of State website
address. They have also distributed hundreds of thousands of informational coupons
about the new passport requirement, some of which are imprinted by local retailers
with an individual message of their own, ranging from a discount to special value
offer.

"Our campaign will reach virtually every American visitor vacationing in Cancun for
the next three months," said Artemio Santos, chief executive officer for the Cancun
CVB. "We are providing tourism businesses like hotels, restaurants, shops, and
attractions with the necessary information and tools to reach visitors to Cancun
several times during an individual vacationer's stay. This is a destination-wide
undertaking," said Santos.

Tour operators and travel agents are also strategizing to educate their customers on
the new law. Funjet, one of the top U.S. tour operators for Mexico, has created an
online program to inform travel agents on the new requirements and how to reach out
to their customers proactively regarding passports. The program includes guidelines
for organizing "passport parties" for consumers, designed to facilitate passport
processing for people who have traveled to Mexico in the past with other forms of
identification. Additionally, Apple Vacations has initiated a promotion for a free
passport with the slogan, "You fly, we buy."

The WHTI will not go into effect until 2008 for cruise passengers and 2009 for road
travelers. For more information, please visit http://travel.state.gov/passport and
www.visitmexico.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, Asia and
Latin America.

FOR PRESS ONLY: For additional ideas, help with a story or general travel and
tourism information about Mexico, please contact the MTB's North American Press Room
directly at 1-800-929-4555, by e-mail at northamericanpress@visitmexico.com, or
visit our press Web site at www.visitmexicopress.com. To access an online warehouse
of free, downloadable b-roll, visit www.thenewsmarket.com/visitmexicopress.

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


Web Site = http://www.visitmexico.com

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