Mexican State of Guanajuato Campaigns to Bring Travel Back
The colonial city of San Miguel de Allende and its surrounding region is rebranding itself as the start of “great stories”
The Mexican state of Guanajuato has started its tourism reactivation with the launch of its brand featuring the slogan “Guanajuato, live great stories.” The state, located in the center of the country in the region known as El Bajío, is home to heavily touristed city of San Miguel de Allende and the state’s capital, Guanajuato City.
“We are inviting our visitors and tourists to be the protagonists of their own history, taking as a setting the tourist wealth of our state, as well as our World Heritage Cities, Magical Towns, archaeological zones – every corner of Guanajuato,” said Governor Diego Sinhue Rodríguez Vallejo in a statement. “Today, from the heart of our capital city, a UNESCO World Heritage site, we announce to Mexico and the world that Guanajuato is the ideal place to live great stories.”
Guanajuato is known for its unique archaeological sites and its connections to the Mexican independence movement. San Miguel de Allende is known as a haven for creative travelers and was once home to legendary American writer, Jack Kerouac, who drew inspiration from the region for his books. His own muse, the traveler and racounteur, Neal Cassady, spent his last days in the city, making it a decades-long lure for hipsters and writers who come here to write their own stories.
The region is also known for its small luxury hotels and for its local crafts.
The new campaign marks the reactivation of tourism in Guanajuato’s 46 municipalities. Gov. Rodríguez Vallejo said the program is one step in the phased reopening of the region, which is proceeding as health and safety conditions allow it, and economic rejuvenation brought by tourist arrivals to Guanajuato.
Promotion of the new brand will be implemented in phases as the destination reopens. Currently, it will be promoted and disseminated in state, regional and national media in Mexico; at a second stage, it will go international. Additional activities are planned for implementation with trade partners in the US and Canada.
Hotels, restaurants, attractions and tours in the region are all operating at 50 percent capacity. As of August, Guanajuato’s international airport (BJX) is receiving 175 flights from the US per month, including flights from Dallas, Houston and Chicago, plus services from Los Angeles, Oakland, San Jose and Sacramento in California.
In June, as business began to return, the state developed its “Guanajuato Sano Distinction” or Healthy Guanajuato on-site certification following international protocols and instructions. All service providers and companies in the travel sector had to obtain the certification prior to reopening. When the World Travel and Tourism Council announced its “Safe Travels” stamp, the state became the first Mexican destination without a beach to receive the certification.
