Mexican tourism lets competitors ready to pounce

The question has bounced through the travel industry for months now: What is Mexico doing?

News that the new administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador planned to disband the Mexico Tourism Board, shift promotional duties to embassies, and redirect money to build a train that visits some popular tourist areas has been out since late last year.

“Everybody’s got their eye on it,” said Bill Geist, CEO of DMOproz, a consulting firm in Wisconsin that caters to destination marketing organizations. “It’s one thing to cut a budget, but to eliminate it is just…it’s a head scratcher.”

There have been few details about what will happen moving forward, even as international offices shutter and continued security concerns make the need for a cohesive communications strategy more acute, reports Skift.