Given the recently published figures from Statistics Canada showing that the Mexican inbound market grew by almost 21% in February '08 compared to the same month in '07, I am following up on a previous post about the Mexican and German inbound markets, and comments from Vicky Brock (Scotland's Tracking Tourism: the Tourism Research Blog).
-In one of her comments Vicky asked : "is there research or are you aware of what the key destination attractors are for the Mexican market segments? For example, in Scotland, the German market is typically thought to be attracted by the rugged outdoors, the beauty of wild nature, exploring, walking and hiking. And I can see that in these respects Canada and Scotland are direct competitors when it comes to the German market."
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"is there research?" and "Are you aware?" Yes and Yes. I have been aware of the key attractors since I launched the "Canada en Español Network," and I've conducted many surveys online to confirm my empirical knowledge about the Mexican market (I was born and grew up in Mexico City among Canada's target markets - i.e. affluent Mexicans). Furthermore, since the Canadian Tourism Commission began marketing in Mexico, it has commissioned various studies and continues to do research in that market.
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So, why do Mexicans come to Canada? What do Mexican travellers like? What are the "key attractors" for Mexicans when it comes to visiting Canada?
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The CTC's latest research, Mexico Consumer & Travel Trade Research (september 2007), lists the following attributes "that Mexicans strongly associate with an ideal destination, they include:
-Seeing as much as possible in the time available
- Places important in history
- Great food and drink
- Exciting travel stories
- Buying the latest fashions
- A sense of freedom
When it comes to Canada specifically, the research lists a number of Canadian activities in which Mexicans are very interested. Number one is "Seeing Niagara Falls," followed by "Visiting Canada's major cities" and, believe it or not, "Aurora viewing in Canada's North." In addition to the above, "Visiting a World Heritage Site" and "Seeing the Canadian Rockies" aslo scored above 70% of respondents.
-My two cents (without revealing secrets) - Why do Mexicans come to Canada? It's new! Canada is famous around the world for being a "nice country," for being the "peacekeeper," and for being cold. In Mexico there is a very very high regard for Canada as a countr
y, perhaps exaggerated, (something I am confirming more and more from Canadamigos Social Network's members), but until quite recently (in the last ten to twelve years) there was virtually no knowledge in Mexico about Canada's tourist attractions, except for Niagara Falls (a wonder of the world). Today, many affluent Mexicans know a lot more about Canada, but mostly about Ontario and Quebec led by Niagara, Toronto and Montreal. This is to be expected since Ontario and Quebec have been the most active in promoting their destinations in Mexico in recent years and Toronto and Montreal get more media coverage internationally than any other Canadian cities. This is due in part because of professional sports (Mexican are avid sports spectators) like baseball and basket-ball (Toronto) as well as high visibility events like the Toronto International Film Festival, the International Jazz Festival and the Grand Prix.
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y, perhaps exaggerated, (something I am confirming more and more from Canadamigos Social Network's members), but until quite recently (in the last ten to twelve years) there was virtually no knowledge in Mexico about Canada's tourist attractions, except for Niagara Falls (a wonder of the world). Today, many affluent Mexicans know a lot more about Canada, but mostly about Ontario and Quebec led by Niagara, Toronto and Montreal. This is to be expected since Ontario and Quebec have been the most active in promoting their destinations in Mexico in recent years and Toronto and Montreal get more media coverage internationally than any other Canadian cities. This is due in part because of professional sports (Mexican are avid sports spectators) like baseball and basket-ball (Toronto) as well as high visibility events like the Toronto International Film Festival, the International Jazz Festival and the Grand Prix. Going forward, there is a lot of room for growth vis-a-vis the Mexican market as other destinations increase their visibility (BC and Alberta follow Quebec and Ontario) and air access increases. I have heard that Mexicana Airlines will begin direct flights to Calgary and Edmonton this year, although I have not seen official announcements yet. If this is the case, expect significant growth in visitations to Alberta this year (provided the flights are properly marketed).
-What do Mexicans travellers like? Well, (Vicky) one thing I can certainly say (even though no one likes broad 
generalizations) is that Mexican travellers are not attracted to "the rugged outdoors, the beauty of wild nature, exploring, walking and hiking." As most tourists to Canada, Mexicans certainly want to see and enjoy Canada's natural wonders, Niagara Falls being #1, but they are not into walking, camping and hiking the great outdoors, especially the rugged kind. While there are niche segments of the Mexican travelling public who do enjoy the outdoors and are experienced outdoorspersons who love adventure tourism, most Mexicans who can afford to
travel to Canada want comfort. They want to see everything and experience new things (like the Ice Hotel in Quebec, for example) and have fun and gather great stories to tell when they go back home. But they don't want to "rough it" and they definitely want to have time and places to go shopping. Mexicans love good food. They like to go out to great restaurants, enjoy great meals and spend time in the sobremesa (a Mexican term that refers to the conversation that goes on after eating their meals while they enjoy dessert or brandy and a coffee). The CTC research rightly points out that in this regard, Canada needs to do a better job of educating the market about our culinary offerings.
generalizations) is that Mexican travellers are not attracted to "the rugged outdoors, the beauty of wild nature, exploring, walking and hiking." As most tourists to Canada, Mexicans certainly want to see and enjoy Canada's natural wonders, Niagara Falls being #1, but they are not into walking, camping and hiking the great outdoors, especially the rugged kind. While there are niche segments of the Mexican travelling public who do enjoy the outdoors and are experienced outdoorspersons who love adventure tourism, most Mexicans who can afford to
travel to Canada want comfort. They want to see everything and experience new things (like the Ice Hotel in Quebec, for example) and have fun and gather great stories to tell when they go back home. But they don't want to "rough it" and they definitely want to have time and places to go shopping. Mexicans love good food. They like to go out to great restaurants, enjoy great meals and spend time in the sobremesa (a Mexican term that refers to the conversation that goes on after eating their meals while they enjoy dessert or brandy and a coffee). The CTC research rightly points out that in this regard, Canada needs to do a better job of educating the market about our culinary offerings. -
Finally, this may sound to obvious, but one major thing about Mexicans when they travel abroad. They want to feel welcomed. Mexicans love to make friends and a friendly attitude and friendly service go a long way in making these visitors happy. And not only that, this will also make them word-of-mouth marketers for your destination or your tourism business. Allow me to quote a member of the Canadamigos Social Network, who wrote a description of her first trip to Canada:
-"Puedo decir sin lugar a dudas que Canadá es un país indiscutiblemente bellísimo, es difícil dejar de contemplar todos los tesoros que tiene tan sólo esta parte del país, sin embargo puedo asegurar que una de las sorpresas más gratas que tuve fue descubrir la generosidad y carisma de su gente."
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"I can say without a doubt that Canada is indisputably beautiful, it's difficult to stop contemplating the treasures that you find in this part of the country alone, however, I can assure you that one of the nicest surprises I had (on this trip) was to discover the generosity and charisma of its people."
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I could easily do a half day seminar about Mexican travellers to Canada in all their permutations, I can continue writing about this topic in more detail, but I think the above will suffice for now. Thanks Vicky for prompting me to write about this.
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Saludos,
Jaime
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