Released on = March 30, 2007, 11:36 am

Press Release Author = Erick Laseca

Industry = Marketing

Press Release Summary = As part of a more aggressive international promotional
strategy in North America, the Mexico Tourism Board (MTB) will open a marketing
office in Washington, D.C. in May, bringing the total number of offices in the
region to nine.

Press Release Body = Heading up the Washington, D.C. office will be Eduardo Chaillo,
a Mexico Tourism Board veteran who once led the Mexico Convention Bureau (MCB) and
most recently oversaw the MTB's promotional efforts in the United States and Canada
from the MTB\'s midwestern headquarters in Chicago.

According to Chaillo, the office opening responds to a need to better service the
northeast region, whose high population density and per-capita income make it one of
Mexico's most important international tourism feeder markets. The city is also home
to many of the United States' leading travel associations, government agencies and
chambers of commerce, as well as the Mexican Embassy, making an established presence
for the MTB there particularly important, Chaillo said.

While the office will specialize in all product segments, from sun and beach to
nature to culture, particular emphasis will be placed on meetings and conventions,
according to Chaillo. Mexico wants to stake its claim for a larger piece of the
United States' business travel market, estimated by the Convention Industry Council
at US$122 billion; currently, only 12.5 percent of the meetings and conventions
organized by U.S. companies are held in Mexico, meaning the sector offers tremendous
opportunity, . According to the Professional Convention Management Association
(PCMA), 30 percent of organizers of the 300,000 conventions it registered last year
expressed a desire to hold events in Mexico.

In addition to opening an office in the U.S. capital, the MTB will also expand
operations in its West Coast office, headquartered in Los Angeles, announced Mexico
Tourism Board CEO Francisco Lopez Mena. The region is by far the most important U.S.
tourism feeder market for Mexico, responsible for more than 2.4 million of the
international tourists visiting the country in 2006, said Lopez Mena.

Funding for the office and other promotional initiatives slated for the coming year
will come from the MTB\'s promotional budget of 1.61 billon pesos (about 150 million
dollars), 40 percent larger than the previous year. The increase derives from the
recent passage of a provision increasing from 50 to 70 percent the MTB\'s share of
tourism revenues from the International Tourist Tax (DNI).

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.

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 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.

# # #

Erick Laseca
Mexico Tourism Board
312-228-0517 ext14
erick.laseca@bm.com
www.visitmexicopress.com


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

Contact Details = Erick Laseca
Mexico Tourism Board
312-228-0517 ext14
erick.laseca@bm.com
www.visitmexicopress.com