Chihuahua tourism activity seeks to take advantage of the nearshoring boom

Being an industrial state and bordering the United States, Chihuahua seeks to take advantage of the nearshoring boom to boost its tourism activity.

In interview with The Economistthe secretary of Tourism of the entity, Edibray Gómez Gallegos, explained that due to the boom in the relocation of companies, the goal of increasing the percentage of foreign visitors to the entity has been established, just, on an annual average, 75% of tourists who travel to Chihuahua are nationals.

He elaborated that there are two moments that are being sought to take advantage of in this 2023, the trade missions of directors of Asian and European companies that seek the reconfiguration of their supply chains, and second, the arrival of workers once these companies are installed.

As part of this machinery, the owner revealed that it has already been confirmed that of the 67 municipalities that Chihuahua has, 50 were consolidated so that they have a tourist vocation.

We have worked to create a tourism products department, so that people from abroad know beyond the territorial extension what can be offered in the state”, he added.

According to the secretary, this year’s strategy is part of a plan that started in 2022 and where it was possible to create a tourism unit, since it was the only state without a Ministry of Tourism.

“With that, a plan was already specified, the tourist vocation of the municipalities, with that a tourist corridor was generated, made up of the Chihuahua-Pacific Railroad, passing through Creel, Barrancas. Our interest is obviously to promote and potentiate the local abroad, ”he explained.

The promotion strategy, he explained, will also focus on cities such as Ciudad Juárez, so that workers and managers of manufacturing companies know the tourist attractions of the state.

“It is an instruction from Governor María Eugenia Campos Galván, that economic development be achieved through the maquiladora industry and through foreign investment, and that tourism take advantage of this. We have entered into a training and professionalization of our people to be able to solve or attend to the people that integrate this maquiladora industry. Chihuahua is one of the largest states in terms of manufacturing and we have great expectations for this year,” she pointed out.

The strategy of taking advantage of the arrival of more supply companies is also related to what was stated in the latest Regional Economies Report, July-September 2022 of the Bank of Mexico.

The report specifies that until September of last year it was identified that the states of the northern region presented a higher level of tourist activity, especially driven by the manufacturing sector.

“It significantly favored national business tourism, while the growth of nearshoring attracted a greater flow of international visitors to these entities with the aim of developing new projects,” the publication said.

2023 Features

Gómez Gallegos explained that as a start to 2023 and in order to increase the attraction of international tourists to Chihuahua, a delegation attended Fitur 2023 in Spain.

As a start to activities, a meeting was held with Spanish companies, with whom they shared the value points of the northern state, such as wine tourism, sotol and the hotel industry.

The representative delegation of Chihuahua also made more than 20 appointments, where it was agreed to increase the attraction of the US market interested in the offer of tourism for meetings, incentives, congresses and exhibitions.

“One of the travel agencies ranked within the top 5 in Madrid, Destinos del Mundo will promote the destination and some of its tourism products to its high-end tourism consumers,” he revealed.