After 23 years of little or no exposure in Canada, Mexico’s Velas Resorts has finally decided to come out of the woodwork and is calling all Canadians to notice. “2008 to 2011 were unlucky years for the Mexico tourism industry,” said Ing Vela, V.P. of Velas Resorts. “We’re now recovering and tourism is growing. We are looking to diversify our business and grow in the Canadian market.”
To initiate its relationship with the Canadian trade, 16 travel professionals were invited to Toronto’s Pangaea Restaurant recently to learn more about this luxury all-inclusive product. 4 properties make up the Velas Resorts portfolio – Grand Velas Riviera Maya; Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit; Velas Vallarta and the adults only Casa Velas. Unlike the standard all-inclusive product that snowbirds so often frequent, all Velas Resorts rooms are suites, and collectively, the properties have 39 AAA Diamond recognitions.
“For the last 20-30 years, Mexico has commissioned itself as a cheap destination. But we have a great product that Canadians don’t know about.” According to Vela, the U.S. and Mexico are their primary markets, with the U.K. following closely behind. “2% of our guests are Canadians,” he said. “But we should be at 10% and our Canadian numbers should be double or triple that of the U.K.”
Considering Canada is Mexico’s 2nd largest international market, these numbers are surprisingly low.
“It’s an extremely high-end product that doesn’t fit into the typical all-inclusive category and it’s a hard market to break, because people are comfortable with their all-inclusive brands,” said Monica Garcia, Deputy Director for the Mexico Tourist Board. “We want to change the perception – you don’t have to go to the Caribbean or Europe – Mexico has high-end product as well. It’s going to take some time, but once people experience Velas, they’ll be hooked.”
Mexico Tourism Board's Monica Garcia; Velas Resorts' Ing Vela, V.P.; Raquel Tacher. Director of Sales,
Grand Velas Riviera Maya; and Denys Montes de Oca, Director of Sales & Marketing, Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit
