Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Which are the world's friendliest and unfriendliest cities?

10:23 AM | Posted by Cross Border Investment / Hipotecaria CBI | | Edit Post

By Hiufu Wong, CNN

updated 8:50 AM EDT, Wed August 7, 2013

The most unfriendly city in the world

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Conde Nast Traveler has unveiled the friendliest and unfriendliest cities in the world
U.S. cities dominate the least friendliest cities chart. One reader named Detroit the "armpit of the world"
Travelers feel the most welcomed in Brazil's island city of Florianopolis

(CNN) -- The United States, land of freedom and opportunity, is also the land of scowling faces and folded arms, according to a new poll.

Travel magazine Conde Nast Traveler has unveiled the results of its annual readers' choice survey. More than 46,000 readers gave their opinions last year on everything from favorite airlines, the best hotels and the friendliest and unfriendliest cities.

It's the latter, released in the last few days, that might cause the most surprises, with U.S. cities dominating the "unfriendly" list.

Newark in New Jersey is the unfriendliest city in the world according to the survey. "Newark is best known for being the site of an airport near New York, and for many of our readers, that's the only reason to stop there," said the Conde Nast Traveler write up.

In total five U.S. cities were voted into the top 10 meanest cities and eight made the top 20.

$U.S. cities rule \'unfriendliest cities\' list$ U.S. cities rule 'unfriendliest cities' list

Oakland (3rd) "has an image problem and a split personality" according to one reader who answered the survey. New Haven (7th) is the city of "rude, unfriendly folks;" Detroit (8th) was named the "armpit of the world" by one reader and Atlantic City (9th) dismissed as a "pale shadow of Las Vegas."

Other cities in the list included Islamabad in Pakistan (2nd least friendly), Luanda in Angola (4th least friendly), Kuwait City in Kuwait (5th) and Lome in Togo (6th). Tangier in Morocco (10th), rounded up the top 10.

What do you think? Tell us about your own friendly or unfriendly travel experiences in the comments

Conde Nast Traveler stressed in its report that the rankings are inspired by various factors including location, political perception, size and language barriers, and may not be due simply to the rude behavior of the people of those cities.

But enough badmouthing. The survey also announced the friendliest cities in the world.

Florianopolis, the island city in Brazil, is the world's friendliest city according to the poll. Hobart in Tasmania closely followed in second place and Thimpu of Bhutan wrapped up the top three.

One U.S. city made it into the top 10 friendliest cities -- Charleston in South Carolina. Standing fifth in the global list, Charleston was also voted the friendliest city in the United States in a previous poll.

The world's unfriendliest cities

20. Caracas, Venezuela

19. Bethlehem, Palestine

18. Casablanca, Morocco

17. Wilmington, Delaware, United States

16. Moscow, Russia

15. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

14. Shenzhen, China

13. Albany, New York, United States

12. Los Angeles, United States

11. Guangzhou, China

10. Tangier, Morocco

9. Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States

8. Detroit, Michigan, United States

7. New Haven, Connecticut, United States

6. Lome, Togo

5. Kuwait City, Kuwait

4. Luanda, Angola

3. Oakland, California, United States

2. Islamabad, Pakistan

1. Newark, New Jersey, United States

The world's friendliest cities

20.= Cork, Ireland

20.= Asheville, North Carolina, United States

18. Edinburg, Scotland

16.= Savannah, Georgia, United States

16.= Auckland, New Zealand

14.= Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

14.= Galena, Illinois

13. Dublin, Ireland

12. Christchurch, New Zealand

11. Chiang Mai, Thailand

9.= Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

9.= Kilkenny, Ireland

8. Mandalay, Myanmar

6.= Margaret River, Australia

6.= Paro, Bhutan

5. Charleston, South Carolina, United States

4. Queenstown, New Zealand

3. Thimpu, Bhutan

2. Hobart, Tasmania

1. Florianopolis, Brazil

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/07/travel/unfriendly-cities/index.html?sr=fb080713unfriendlycity1p

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Mexico City Eyes Leisure Market as U.S., Canada Visitors Rise

10:04 AM | Posted by Cross Border Investment / Hipotecaria CBI | | Edit Post

Mexico_City_Eyes_Leisure_Market_Visitors_Rise

Mexico City Eyes Leisure Market as U.S., Canada Visitors Rise

Submitted by John Ganjei on Mon, 2013-08-05 14:00

Mexico City is quickly becoming an international vacation destination. In 2012, the city experienced a 9% increase in international travelers from North America. This raised the number of total visitors to 12.5 million, with 3.1 million of these coming from outside of Mexico.
Visitors also remained in the city longer, taking advantage of the city’s 604 hotels and their 49,000-plus rooms. The hotel market continues to develop in Mexico City, where a new hotel has opened every month for the last three years.
Why is Mexico City experiencing such a boom in international leisure travel? Maurico Reyna, general director of Mexico City’s Tourism Promotion Institute, credits the “choice of accommodations, attractions, antiquities, and archaeological sites.”
The increase in tourism is part of a larger trend in Mexico City’s development. “Twenty years ago this was an old city,” Reyna said. “We’re growing again. We’ve recovered and have renovated.”
"Our visitor numbers in 2012 grew 9% from North America, helped by an increase in airlift from U.S. hubs," Reyna said during a Travel Weekly webinar last month. "Average spend also increased to $827 per visitor, and we've seen a longer length of stay in recent months."

http://mexicotoday.org/article/tourism/mexico-city-eyes-leisure-market-us-canada-visitors-rise

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Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Huffington Post: 11 Awesome Things About Mexico You Didn’t Know

12:38 PM | Posted by Cross Border Investment / Hipotecaria CBI | | Edit Post

We’ve been saying it for years, and main-stream media is beginning catch on: Mexico is much better than it’s given credit for, and there are amazing things about this country in all aspects – lifestyle, tourism, economy, investment – that get far less attention than they deserve.
A couple of months ago, Huffington Post put out this:
Mexico gets a bad rap. The mainstream media, with its bias for bad news, gives the impression that Mexico is a violence-ridden narcotocracy. Many of the more strident voices in the contentious immigration debate paint Mexicans themselves as poor and desperate.
These stereotypes don’t mesh well with reality. Mexico, in fact, is the second-largest economy in Latin America, with a growing middle class. The drug war that has left some 70,000 people dead is no doubt a tragedy, but Mexico’s homicide rate isn’t high by regional standards.
In fact, there’s a lot of positive developments and historical context that often get left out of media coverage, with its steady drumbeat of drug war assassinations.
1. Mexico creates jobs
Our southern neighbor buys more of our products than any country other than Canada. Some 6 million U.S. jobs depend on trade with Mexico, according to the Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute.
2. Mexico’s economy is growing
Despite the common conception in the United States that Mexico is a poor country, Mexico’s economy is growing faster than its northern neighbor’s — 3.9 percent compared to 1.7 percent in 2011, according to the UK Independent.
3. Mexico has more professional elections than the United States
According to Robert A. Pastor, a professor and co-director of the Center for Democracy and Election Management at American University who has observed Mexican elections since 1986, the Mexican system is more professional, non-partisan and independent than the American one.
4. Mexico gave us chocolate
Along with corn, avocados, chili peppers, tequila and many other awesome foods.
5. Mexico has amazing cultural diversity
While Mexico may be the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world, that’s not the only language spoken in the country. More than 60 indigenous languages are spoken in Mexico
6. It’s the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world
With a population of 112 million, Mexico is the country with the most Spanish speakers in the world.
7. Mexico City is massive
If size impresses you, you’ll probably admire Mexico City. With around 20.5 million inhabitants, it sits among the world’s largest cities. And it’s massiveness has a long history — when the Spanish arrived in the sixteenth century in Tenochtitlán, the heart of the Aztec empire where Mexico City currently stands, it may have been the largest urban area in the world.
8. Mexico has awesome tourism
Beaches? Ancient ruins? Mountains? Cultural diversity? Awesome food? Mexico’s got it all.
9. It’s not as violent as you may think
As we’ve pointed out before, Mexico’s murder rate isn’t particularly high by Latin American standards. Mexico had a murder rate of 23.7 per 100,000 residents in 2011, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. That’s about equal to Brazil’s and roughly half as high as Detroit. Plenty of places in the region have higher murder rates — including Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and Jamaica.
10. Mexico has a thriving film industry
Many Americans are already familiar with crossover successes like Gael García Bernal, Salma Hayek and director Guillermo del Toro. But those stars account for just a small fraction of a booming industry.
11. Home to some of the oldest civilizations of the Americas
Mexico’s first major civilization, the Olmecs, established themselves by around 1200 BC.
See the slide-show that goes with this article, here.

-by Thomas Lloyd

http://www.topmexicorealestate.com/the-snowbirds-cactus/2013/08/05/huffington-post-11-awesome-things-about-mexico-you-didnt-know/

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Monday, August 5, 2013

At Work: Don't let work horn in on your vacation

9:40 AM | Posted by Cross Border Investment / Hipotecaria CBI | | Edit Post

Andrea Kay, Gannett 1 p.m. EDT August 3, 2013

To recharge your batteries, you need to unplug your electronics.

Your odds of being struck by lightning are greater than your odds of going on vacation and being free from work-related e-mails and calls.
OK, perhaps I exaggerate a tad. But having just returned from a week's vacation, I speak with authority.
TRAVEL: 5 places to unwind and unplug
It's never been easy to leave town and put work behind you. But in the old days before the Internet and text messaging when I would write about this subject, certain safeguards let you head off while knowing clients would be taken care of and disasters avoided without your immediate attention. And people would let you get away in peace for a few days.
Now, there is nearly no way to get away unscathed.
So-called work-life balance surveys concur. One such survey — ironically conducted by TeamViewer, a company that offers remote access to your or others' computers any time, anywhere — found that 61% of employed American vacationers plan to work during their summer vacations.
The issue is getting worse. In a similar survey the company conducted last year, they found that 52% of employed Americans said they would work during their summer vacations.
What are we working on at the beach or while traipsing through quaint, historic villages? The survey says 38% of workers are reading work-related electronic mail; 32% want access to a document; 30% receive work-related calls; 24% take work-related text messages; and 20% are asked to do work by a boss, client or colleague.
Yes, I admit, I went prepared, just like the 69% in the survey who said they brought a "work-capable" device with them. Sixty one percent planned to bring up to three such devices. (I only took two.)
Since I am self-employed, who else would respond to e-mail? People expect you to get back to them. Quickly.
Using a one-size-fits-all automatic I'm-on-vacation-let's-talk-when-I-get-back response is not necessarily a solution and tells spammers they have hit the jackpot.
I'm sure someone will write me to say some auto-reply mechanism takes care of that. But when you are your own boss or have no one else to cover for you, responding is almost a must.
Of the more than 2,000 adults surveyed in the online non-random poll, 83% agree that having to work during vacation is becoming more common in America.
But workers are not happy about it.
If the boss asks them to work during vacation, 34% said they would do the work but not happily; 24% feel that their boss doesn't respect their time; 22% would say no; 13% would turn off their devices and ignore the request altogether; 11% would pretend they didn't see the incoming message.
Only 14% said they would be happy to do the work.
Those from Generation Y — ages 18 to 24 — are statistically more likely than any other age group to say they expect to work during vacation. Eighty two percent expect to bring a work-capable device, and 79% expect to use it.
To have an actual vacation from work in the old days, I suggested workers set up plans for as many contingencies as possible before they leave town, things like asking co-workers to cover for you and giving your customers advance notice to anticipate their needs. Both are still decent options for some.
But too many offices are stretched thin these days without co-workers who can pitch in. With communication moving so quickly and everyone expected to react within nanoseconds, it's difficult to put off dealing with issues until you return.
What has not changed is that we are not work-capable devices.
We are humans who need breaks from time to time. The best we can do is to insist others understand that, and as I came to peace three days into my vacation, not to ask ourselves to be anything but that.
Career consultant Andrea Kay is the author of This Is How To Get Your Next Job: An Inside Look at What Employers Really Want. Reach her at andrea@andreakay.com. Twitter: @AndreaKayCareer.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/kay/2013/08/03/at-work-nonworking-vacation/2607775/

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Mexico Crisis easing, Mexico sees uneven recovery

9:29 AM | Posted by Cross Border Investment / Hipotecaria CBI | | Edit Post

By Arnie Weissmann

CANCUN — What a difference two years can make.

In the summer of 2011, Mexican government officials, wholesalers, association heads and leaders of travel agent groups met here to brainstorm about what could be done to reverse a spiraling drop in business. Consumers, frightened by violence associated with drug gangs, were booking away from Mexico.

By contrast, a second summit, held here last week, painted a picture of a destination in recovery, with focused discussions on major long-term projects rather than crisis management.

Tulum

Still, there’s evidence that the destination’s recovery is uneven. The Mexico Tourism Board (MTB) game plan, which includes emphasis on the notion that the violence was regional rather than national, appears to have helped resort areas like Cancun and Riviera Maya immensely.

But land crossings at towns bordering the U.S., where violence has been concentrated, are down so significantly that, overall, international arrivals are lower year over year.

Calling that situation “alarming,” MTB CEO Rodolfo Lopez-Negrete said that although crime has dropped “dramatically” in border towns, some land and non-cruise water crossings are down in “high double digits.”

Even so, the drop in land border crossings has had little impact on most summit attendees, who promote packages to resort areas, and they were heartened by encouraging news regarding air arrivals, spend per visitor, market share, hotel occupancy and revenue per available room in the interior destinations they market.

Lopez-Negrete reviewed recent developments, including the creation of a “tourism cabinet” of 10 federal ministers that is chaired by President Enrique Pena Nieto; a proposed rail link between the Riviera Maya and Merida that would stop at the ruins of Chichen Itza and the colonial city of Valladolid; the building of infrastructure to facilitate a push to promote Mayan heritage in five states in southeastern Mexico, with Cancun as a transportation hub; and the rebranding of Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit to “Vallarta Nayarit.”

A total of $43.3 million will be spent by MTB this year promoting the country, with a big push from September to December.

Mexico Tourism Summit speakers

Lopez-Negrete said the total represented an increase of about 10%. He added that the timing of the marketing efforts were affected somewhat by changes in advertising and public relations agencies but that new 30-month contracts would provide stability in promotional efforts moving forward.

In addition to the federal tourism promotion budget, more than $10 million in federal, state and regional funds will also be spent in the U.S. and Canada on the rebranding of Vallarta Nayarit over the 12 months beginning in September.

MTB's marketing director, Gerardo Llanes, unveiled a new tourism slogan, “Mexico, Live It to Believe It,” and played two new TV spots, one in support of the Vallarta Nayarit rebranding and one promoting Mexico City as a leisure destination.

The ads, which will first air next month, are designed to trigger an emotional response “using a visual language, made of memories” rather than to enumerate features, Llanes said.

The narrators of both spots were female and had a British accent. Llanes said that the ads were made for use in multiple English-speaking countries, and that Americans look more favorably upon hearing a British accent than vice versa. Attendee reaction to both spots was overwhelmingly favorable.

Discussion about whether Cancun and the Riviera Maya should also be rebranded as one destination followed, but there was no consensus on the benefits of doing that.

Elyse Elkin, Travel Impressions’ vice president in charge of Mexico, felt it could be useful because the two destinations share one airport, but Classic Vacations President David Hu felt it would “be too much to explain. Sell one, and then tell them what’s nearby.”

Gibran Chapur, executive vice president of Palace Resorts, liked the idea “if we could double the marketing value. I’d rather have two spots featuring Cancun/Riviera than one on Cancun and one on Riviera Maya.”

Alex Zozaya, CEO of Apple Leisure Group, had the last word. “Try to stay focused on what will get us more traffic,” he said.

Follow Arnie Weissmann on Twitter @awtravelweekly.
Photo of a Tulum beach courtesy of Shutterstock.com.

http://www.travelweekly.com/Mexico-Travel/With-crisis-easing-Mexico-sees-an-uneven-recovery/

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Friday, August 2, 2013

Proposed Yucatan train stirs hoteliers’ fear of cruise activity

11:37 AM | Posted by Cross Border Investment / Hipotecaria CBI | | Edit Post

By Arnie Weissmann

CANCUN — Passions rose here during a panel at the Mexico Tourism Summit, with hoteliers expressing concerns about a proposed rail link between Riviera Maya and Merida that’s backed by Mexico President Enrique Pena Nieto and the Mexico Tourism Board.

The resort executives predicted it will increase the presence of cruise lines in the region, which they oppose.

Carnival Cruise Lines calls at Calica, south of Playa del Carman in the Riviera Maya. Last year, Carnival Corp. sent the Mexican government a letter expressing “interest in possible investments of $150 million in port projects in Calica” and Puerto Cortes, in the state of Baja California Sur.

The hoteliers painted a possible scenario in near-apocalyptic tones.

“There should be a law against cruise ships having a homeport here,” said Gibran Chapur, executive vice president of Palace Resorts, which has 4,000 rooms in seven hotels in Cancun and Riviera Maya, and whose Le Blanc Resort was host of the summit venue.

“If [a homeport] comes here, [cruise] passengers take all the air seats, stay for a weekend, and then never return for a vacation. Everyone’s going to lose: tour operators, airlines, hotels, the government. And if someone is thinking about investing $200 million in a hotel here, if a cruise ship homeports here, they’re going to think twice.”

Chapur later said he opposed not only homeports but any expansion of cruise line activity at Calica, and that having the train begin in Riviera Maya was worrisome because cruise lines would be able to offer convenient day excursions to Chichen Itza.

Cancun Hotel Association President Roberto Cintron expressed fear that the train would be “a pretext” to build a homeport.

“We’re really concerned because it could destroy the hotel industry,” he said, adding that the island of Cozumel, about 46 miles off the coast of Riviera Maya, provided a cautionary tale of engaging with cruise lines.

Cozumel has an active cruise port, and he said that the island, with roughly the same number of visitors as Cancun, earned about $150 million in tourism revenue compared with approximately $3.75 billion for Cancun.

“And it can’t grow,” he said. “It’s one of the poorest areas of the state because the money is not well-distributed.”

One possibly complicating factor for Cancun and Riviera Maya hoteliers is that although Calica is on the Riviera Maya, its port falls under the jurisdiction of the municipality of Cozumel.

Mexico Tourism Board CEO Rodolfo Lopez Negrete was in the front row as the hoteliers spoke, and said that the tourism board had not taken an official position on homeporting in Calica.

“At the end of the day, it would be a business decision made in conjunction with municipal, state and federal authorities, and those authorities would not go against what is best for the private sector,” he said. “Any decision would need strong, solid consensus and generate jobs, taxes and increase the welfare of Mexicans.”

Follow Arnie Weissmann on Twitter @awtravelweekly.

http://www.travelweekly.com/Mexico-Travel/Proposed-Yucatan-train-stirs-hoteliers-fear-of-cruise-activity/

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Thursday, August 1, 2013

‘Mexico, Live It to Believe It’ campaign to launch

12:36 PM | Posted by Cross Border Investment / Hipotecaria CBI | | Edit Post

By Arnie Weissmann

CANCUN — The Mexico Tourism Board’s chief marketing officer, Gerardo Llanes, unveiled the destination’s new tourism slogan, “Mexico: Live It to Believe It,” to 40 tour wholesalers, heads of travel agent groups and association leaders attending the Mexico Tourism Summit here.

He gave a sneak preview of two television spots which will begin running in September.

Llanes said the tourist board is targeting consumers ages 35 to 65 with household income of $100,000-plus, but wants to also speak to those 25 to 45 with a household income of $75,000.

The ads feature British-accented female narrators and are designed to trigger an emotional response “using a visual language, made of memories,” Llanos said. “We want to make it unexpected, personal, surprising and emotional, with focus on experience.”

One of the ads supports the rebranding of Puerto Vallarta and the Riviera Nayarit into “Vallarta Nayarit,” and the other promotes Mexico City as a leisure destination.

Audience reaction to both spots was overwhelmingly favorable.

A total of $43.3 million will be spent by the Mexico Tourist Board this year promoting the country, with a big push from September to December, said CEO Rodolfo Lopez Negrete. That total represents an increase of about 10%, he added.

Negrete said that the timing of the marketing efforts was affected somewhat by changes in advertising and public relations agencies, but that new 30-month contracts would provide stability in promotional efforts moving forward.

In addition to the federal tourism-promotion budget, more than $10 million in federal, state and regional funds will be spent in the U.S. and Canada on the rebranding of Vallarta Nayarit over the 12 months beginning in September.

Follow Arnie Weissmann on Twitter @awtravelweekly.

http://www.travelweekly.com/Mexico-Travel/Mexico-Live-It-to-Believe-It-campaign-to-launch/

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Which are the world's friendliest and unfriendliest cities?

The most unfriendly city in the world

Mexico City Eyes Leisure Market as U.S., Canada Visitors Rise

Mexico City Eyes Leisure Market as U.S., Canada Visitors Rise

Huffington Post: 11 Awesome Things About Mexico You Didn’t Know

At Work: Don't let work horn in on your vacation

To recharge your batteries, you need to unplug your electronics.

Mexico Crisis easing, Mexico sees uneven recovery

Proposed Yucatan train stirs hoteliers’ fear of cruise activity

‘Mexico, Live It to Believe It’ campaign to launch

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