A group representing investors in Mexico’s tourism sector on Tuesday blamed “erroneous” government policies for the drop in visitors and in foreign-currency revenues.

In a double-page spread in the press, the AIHET organization regretted that this “strategic branch” of the Mexican economy is administered in such an “erratic” way.

That was the reason given for the 11-percent drop in hotel occupation in January 2010 compared with the same month last year.

The strongest criticism was for Mexico’s Touristic Promotion Council, or CPTM, which is accused of weak promotional campaigns and of doing nothing during vacations due to constant changes in the organization’s directors.

“This state of abandonment is even more serious when one considers that our country’s image abroad has been getting worse each day,” AIHET said.

“What we need is an aggressive campaign together with urgent, concrete public relations efforts that help improve Mexico’s image,” it said.

Tourism is Mexico’s third-largest source of revenue, creating 8 percent of the gross domestic product and 2 million “well-paid” jobs, according to AIHET.

The country’s tourism secretary, Rodolfo Elizondo, said Monday that the Mexican tourism industry served 21.1 million international visitors and took in $11.28 billion during 2009.

Those are figures “that show the recovery of the sector after the impact of the economic and health crises,” his office said in a statement, alluding to the global recession and to last year’s swine-flu outbreak, which began in Mexico.

Elizondo said that, after a contraction of 49 percent in May 2009 in foreign-currency revenues due to the flu epidemic, at the close of last year the difference in foreign currency was only 4.5 percent less than in 2008.

The secretary said that thanks to the “Vive Mexico” and “Welcome Back” campaigns, as well as the solidarity of Mexicans who decided to vacation inside their own country, the industry revived.

- via http://www.laht.com/