April 11, 2008, cont. from front page, The Festival de Mexico is coming, Compiled by Atención staff, No smoking in Mexico City, Diabetes Conference in San Miguel, Hernández Macías closes for repairs, Abril 11, 2008, Bienvenido el turismo de regreso a San Miguel, Por Jesús Ibarra

According to DATATUR, SECTUR’s online database, 67 percent of the city’s more than 9,000 rooms were occupied during Holy Week this year, 16 percent of those by foreign visitors. This represents a 40 percent increase in the number of foreign tourists compared to last year. National tourism increased 15 percent compared to 2007.

During the first three months of 2008, national tourism increased nearly 10 percent, although the number of foreign tourists decreased 18 percent relative to this period in 2007.

González Engelbrecht said that these data include only guests registered in hotels, not those who rented houses or stayed in unregistered hostelries. He said that local and national campaigns are aimed at regularizing these unregistered businesses, encouraging foreign tourists to stay in registered lodgings.

Annie Ruetinger, of San Miguel House Rentals, said this year was much better for her company than 2006 and 2007. “Although the economic crisis continues in the US, people are still going on vacation, and they prefer Mexico to Europe. It is a bargain for them. Canadians come because now the Canadian dollar is almost equal to the American dollar,” said Ruetinger.

This year, the Monday of Holy Week (March 17) was declared a holiday because Good Friday, March 21, coincided with Benito Juárez’s birthday, also a national holiday. “A lot of families took the entire week off, which increased tourism,” said González.

González believes that tourism in 2007 was affected by the change in local government administration in 2006. “We had a much stronger campaign [for Holy Week] from November 2007 to January 2008,” he said. In general, tourism has increased in the state this year, at least in the other five tourist destinations reported in DATATUR: Guanajuato, Irapuato, León, Celaya and Salamanca. “The increase in the state as a whole was 5 percent, so we are now seeing the results of the work of the State Tourism Department,” said González.

The income from tourism during Holy Week was about 13,500,000 pesos, 13 percent more than expected. According to González, last year tourism brought in about 11,000,000 pesos.

Four- and three-star hotels had the highest occupancy rates (74 and 73 percent, respectively); boutique hotels had 59 percent occupancy.

González Engelbrecht said that during the Tourism Tianguis, which will be held in Acapulco from April 12 to 16, the state of Guanajuato will present its new tourism promotion campaign.

“We will now be in real competition with other tourist states such as Michoacán, Querétaro and Zacatecas, and we hope we can attract more tourism this year than in 2007.”

“The San Miguel delegation is very strong, including 12 hotels and 3 providers of tourist services. We have already arranged to discuss packages with travel agencies from other places, such as Canandes and Total Vacation in Canada. We also have set up meetings with agencies such as Mark Travel Corporation, Orbitz, Hotelbeds, and others, both national and international.”

González said that the San Miguel Tourism Council is not planning any special activities as a strategy to attract more tourists but it is planning a much stronger media campaign. “We are beginning a promotional campaign with Viajes Palacio [travel agency of the department store Palacio de Hierro] that will include ads for San Miguel in national newspapers and magazines and in Palacio de Hierro’s own promotional media. The store’s credit card statements will promote San Miguel, and cardholders who visit the city will have six months to pay for charges incurred here without interest.”

To attract more foreign tourists, the council is promoting San Miguel via Virtuoso, an international company that targets those who earn more than US$250,000 a year. “We began the Virtuoso campaign last year. San Miguel is featured in the publications Virtuoso Life and Virtuoso Insight, and information about San Miguel is in all their travel agencies in the United States and Canada,” said González.

With these campaigns, he said, the council hopes to increase tourism during the whole year.

San Miguel tourism during Holy Week 2006, 2007 and 2008

(from SECTUR website: www.sectur.gob.mx/wb/sectur/sect_Estadisticas_del_Sector )

Holy Week	2006 April 10-16	2007 April 2-8	2008 March 17-23	Difference 2006 vs 2008	Difference 2007 vs 2008

Rooms available	8,105	8,267	9,273

Occupation, %	61.43	55.57	67.58	6.15	12.01

Residents, %	50.46	46.05	49.89	-0.5	3.84

Foreigners, %	10.97	9.52	17.7	6.73	8.18

Tourists (number)	4,876	5,398	6,353	1477	955

Residents	4,416	4,644	5,327	911	683

Foreigners	460	754	1,026	566	292

Average stay (nights)	2.21	1.93	2.12	-0.09	0.19

Residents	2.11	1.96	1.98	-0.13	0.02

Foreigners	3.13	1.71	2.85	-0.28	1.14

The Festival de México en el Centro Histórico is one of Mexico’s and Latin America’s leading international and Mexican events in the fields of dance, theater, music, visual arts, multimedia and opera over 18 days each year in concert halls, churches, palaces, plazas and other venues throughout the city. The Festival de México en el Centro Histórico is a nonprofit organization which is a pioneer in the field of cultural activities in Mexico.

It offers Mexico Cite residents spaces for reflection and dialogue in the world’s largest historic city center through the annual presentation of scenic arts, visual arts and academic activities that are noted for their excellence, innovation and the equilibrium between tradition and vanguard.

The Mexican public will be privy to the very first performance of the original version of a fundamental opera: Jenufa, which brought fame to Leoš Janáček. This is a story of love and death, complex and profound, which delights with its uncommon music. This is the first time that Jenufa will be staged in México, especially in its original version, only recently discovered.

The Orquesta y Coro del Teatro de Bellas Artes will be graced with the presence of Czech director Jan Chalupecký, the scenic direction of Juliana Faesler and the participation of four international soloists: Catherine Malfitano, Helena Kaupova, Gianluca Zampieri y Alěs Briscein, together with an outstanding national cast. Jenufa will be performed at the Palacio de Bellas Artes on April 10 and 22, at 8pm and April 13 and 20, at 5pm.

Radical Mestizo: Alcohol with Goran Bregovic and The Wedding and Funeral Band

Famous for his work in Emir Kusturica’s movies, he will bring to México the program Tales and Songs for Weddings and Funerals, a selection of his music that blends the millenary rhythms of the Balkanic Gipsy culture with current forms of music. He will perform on April 18 and 19, at 8:30pm at the Teatro de la Ciudad and during the Festival’s closing concert on April 27, at 6pm, on the main square La Plaza de la Constitución. During the concert, he will appear with a typical Oaxacan band in a concert coproduced by the Festival de México en el Centro Histórico and the group Banda Instrumenta Oaxaca, a part of the Instrumenta Tradición program.

Flamenco legend to perform

Omega Enrique Morente, a flamenco music icon, will perform, for the first time in Mexico, within the framework of the Festival, on April 26 at 8:30pm, in the Teatro de la Ciudad.

Morente is renowned as a pioneer who initiated a dialogue between traditional flamenco and the musical interests of our times.

Unforgettable jazz features to be included

Jazz could not be absent from the musical selection of this year’s Festival de México en el Centro Histórico. Renowned performers from the local and international scene present the jazz series Jazz en el Zinco. This program includes eight concerts, with the presence of the Miguel Zenón Quartet, directed by the saxophonist, Miguel Zenón. Also present is Mexican multi-instrumentalist Germán Bringas, who is dedicated to promoting experimental jazz and alternative spaces, such as the forum Jazzorca, homonym of the record company he directs. He performs with his two groups: Zero Point, dedicated to free jazz and ELRA, Ensamble Libre de Ritmos Africanos. The series concludes with Ben Monder, the New York guitarist. The concerts take place at the Zinco Jazz Club, on April 16, 17, 18, 19, 23, 24, 25 and 26, at 10pm.

Dites 34 visits us from France, to bring us their special project where traditional music blends with jazz. The group perform with two young Mexican artists who are very familiar with experimental music and traditional rhythms: Israel Moreno from Chiapas y Mauricio Sotelo from Mexico City, the latter is well known for his work with Cabezas de Cera. The concert takes place on Sunday, April 20, at 6pm in the Teatro de la Ciudad.

Young Mexican film star to perform

The acclaimed actor Gael Garcia Bernal joins the 2008 Festival theater program in the play Together. One day Elizabeth, a homemaker, decides to leave her terrible husband and take her children to live with her brother Göran; but she doesn’t know that he lives in a commune, a house full of naked, long haired people who plant vegetables and drink a lot of red wine.

That is the subject of Together, a fable on human interaction, in which Gael García and Elma Lísa Gunnarsdóttir unite with Iceland’s Vesturport Theatre Group. Together will be presented on April 11, at 8:30pm and on April 13 at 6pm, at the Teatro de la Ciudad.

At a Glance

24th Festival de México en el Centro Histórico

Presented: April 10 to April 27, 2008

Inauguration: April 10, Jenůfa, by Leoš Janáček, Orquesta y Coro del Palacio de Bellas Artes, Palacio de Bellas Artes, 8pm

Closing event: April 27, Tales and Songs for Weddings and Funerals, Goran Bregovic, Plaza de la Constitución (Zócalo), 6pm

Artists: Gael Garcia Bernal, Elma Lísa Gunnarsdóttir, Daniel Brühl; Catherine Malfitano, Helena Kaupova, Gianluca Zampieri, Alěs Briscein, Armando Gama, Belem Rodríguez, Irasema Terrazas; Alejandro Jodorowsky, Brontis Jodorowsky, Eliana Amato Cantone y Riccardo Maffiotti; Horacio Franco; Enrique Morente; Goran Bregovic Ensamble and the band Banda Instrumental Oaxaca; Quiatora Monorriel; Anthony Braxton; Wolf Eyes y Drumcorps; Melt Banana; Jamie Saft and Mike Pride; Katerina Chroboková, among others

Total number of events: 254. Of these, 90 shows, 53 visual arts exhibitions, 100 activities for children, 1 restoration, 4 conferences, 3 master conferences, 3 workshops

Number of performances: 364

Number of artists: 922

Number of participating conferences: 20

Number of venues and sites: 65

For further information and to consult the complete Festival program, please check the following address: //www.festival.org.mx.

No smoking in Mexico City

It’s official! As of Thursday, April 3, smoking is forbidden in enclosed spaces in Mexico City. Bars, restaurants, public buildings, offices, theaters, hospitals and designated areas will all bear the nonsmoking sign. Smokers face fines that range from 520 to 5,200 pesos (multiples of the minimum wage).

The Law of Protection for Nonsmokers permits smoking only on terraces, yards, gardens or tables in the open air, and then only if the smoke does not drift into the restaurant. If restaurant owners call authorities with a complaint, the law allows police officers to enter establishments and request that smokers extinguish their cigarettes. If another customer reports smokers, the business will be sanctioned or even temporarily closed.

Local authorities cannot confirm when this new legislation might be applied in San Miguel.

Diabetes Conference in San Miguel

The Rotary Club of San Miguel de Allende-Midday, the Club Rotario de San Miguel A.C. and the Rotary Club of Tallahassee, Florida, sponsor the First Conference on Diabetes, which takes place from April 10 to April 12, 2008. The conferences are open to the public and are at the Teatro Ángela Peralta on April 10 at 9:30am, and at the Real de Minas Hotel, on April 11 and 12 at 8am. Fore more information www.smarotaryclub/diabetes.

Hernández Macías closes for repairs

Municipal Public Works advises that calle Hernández Macías between Pila Seca and Insurgentes will be closed for repairs from 9am, April 10. Roadworks are expected to last for three weeks. Traffic along intersecting streets such as Umarán and Canal can expect slight delays.

2020 vision for San Miguel
By Atención staff

What is the vision for San Miguel de Allende in 2020? That was the question put to a group of 40 sanmiguelenses last week in a two-day workshop. The invitation-only group consisted largely of government department directors with some representation of the tourism industry, the hotel and restaurant association and civil interest groups. Dr. Manuel Cervera Medel from UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico), a specialist in human resources, strategic management and analysis, facilitated the workshop—Taller de Análisis Prospectivo del Futuro de San Miguel de Allende (Prospective analysis of the Future of San Miguel de Allende).

Participants were set the task during two morning sessions to analyze, develop, redesign and construct the future of San Miguel for the year 2020. Participants identified the main elements for their vision of the future, then in breakout session they discussed the importance and interrelation of those elements. The main elements were: health, environment, rural development, urban development, sustainable economic development, education and human development, public safety, social integration, citizen participation, law and legislation as well as cultural patrimony and authenticity. On day two groups evaluated the inter-relatedness of these elements, creating a matrix.

According to Dr. Cervera, the intention of the seminar was to identify the present and potential situation of the Municipality, consider potential tendencies of development, design an ideal scenario for the year 2020, identify the breach between the possible and the ideal situations, and to obtain a practical and ambitious vision of San Miguel de Allende for 2020. He said that the results will be added to other information university investigators have compiled and published, although no date was given.

Participants were, in general, enthusiastic at the prospect of contributing to the vision of the city.

Are advertising campaigns serious contenders in international political commentary? When journalist Deborah Bonello posted the new publicity campaign for Absolut vodka on April 3 on her blog MexicoReporter she was unprepared for the deluge of comments and even spoofs. The vodka advertisement brought in more than 130 comments to MexicoReporter.com and up to 7000 comments to the La Plaza post of the Los Angeles Times. The campaign, by Absolut’s global advertising agency, was specifically created for Mexico to compete in a market dominated by the nationally produced tequila.

Bonello writes on the blog, “The agency makes a play on Mexico’s ambiguous, love/hate relationship with its northern neighbour the United States… . Given Mexico’s national sense of pride and the often cited fact that California, as we know it now, once belonged to the Mexicans, the campaign will be warmly and no doubt humorously received south of La Frontera.”

Here are some of the comments:

Lee: In an absolute world, Mexico would still be Spain.

In an absolute wolrd, The US might still be England.

What a stupid campaign. Bad move absolut.

Carlos: Absolut is the worst tasting vodka, losing to Smirnoff regularly! Let’s let Germany have Sweden back!

Andy: Interestingly enough, this will be a fact in not to many years. Mexicans will be the majority in California in the next 30 years. Also, it is true. We did take the land from Mexico. To be offended by an ad that mentions an historical fact is a bit odd. Also, if you were to study history, China’s current situation with Tibet isn’t much different that our taking of California. For us to demand that Tibet gets its freedom while we don’t see a need to return land that we took from other countries is, well, hypocritical and ignorant. Sorry, but facts are facts. Study your history. And along the lines of China, America would be well advised to not piss them off to much, they have in their control the power to crash the dollar if they so please.

Eddy: Dang, when did alcohol become so politically divisive. If all these people who are hating only drank, ate, wore etc. what they “believe” to be American, then it would probably all be from China! I think the Ad is funny and interesting, get over yourselves and have a margarita! Imagine if every Mexican got offended by all the “Mexican” jokes that American advertisers use. I didn’t like the Taco Bell chihuahua but it was funny, for a minute.

Theodore: As an ex-pat living in Mexico, your ad makes me cringe. Vodka is my drink. I don’t buy Grey Goose because the French are not our allies. Where would the country be today after Germany took over their country? Too bad champagne is only made there. Thank goodness California sparkling wines are quite nice.

Can you say “Ketel One”?

And in response to the “spoof”

Why people are getting upset over this? Vodka ads are not meant to be taken seriously anyways… or perhaps I should drink Mikes Hard Lemonade and check my garage for a Ferrari, then bedroom for a hottie… and if they are not there, cry and moan about it on the internet. Let’s move on people, there are more important things to waste breath (bandwidth) on.

Chimbles

To read more by Deborah Bonello go to www.mexicoreporter.com and http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laplaza/2008/04/mexico-reconque.html