What's happening
in Cancun?

Under the title, “Cancun and the Treasures of the Caribbean,” the Cancun CVB is launching its integral 2010 marketing campaign whose main theme incorporates surrounding islands and destinations.

The marketing strategy’s purpose is aimed at positioning Cancun as a grand, diverse destination that integrates a variety of options such as fashion, adventure, ecological tours, gastronomy and much more.

In this re-launch, Cancun is accompanied by nearby islands such as Holbox, Isla Mujeres, Cozumel, Contoy and the seaside fishing village of Puerto Morelos. Now, they’ll come together as one umbrella, Cancun: one of the country’s most significant tourism destinations.

Each one of these distinctive destinations is considered a treasure not just for its beauty, but also for its unique personality.

A seductive combination of natural beauty and charm, Holbox Island offers its guests contact with the world’s largest fish, the Whale Shark, along with a wide variety of ecological activities.

Contoy Island houses more than 250 different species of fish and 150 diverse types of birds. Because the island is free of predators, its environment provides the ideal setting for the reproduction of these beautiful birds. Contoy is also home to Boca Iglesia, a community of only 26 inhabitants, only accessible via seaport. Boca Iglesia is recognized by the region as a mystical destination. Its main attraction is an excursion into the islands mangroves, visiting the ruins of an antique church destroyed by English and French pirates.

Scuba diving is what Cozumel is known for. Dive enthusiasts can get up close and personal with the Mesoamerican reef, the largest in the northern hemisphere, and second largest in the world, allowing for extensive marine vegetation and fauna.

With more than 480 years of history, Isla Mujeres is a fishing island that provides a picturesque landscape as its background for the destination’s boutique hotels and Caribbean attractions.

Puerto Morelos is the oldest port in the state of Quintana Roo, and is a great starting point if you want to explore Cenote routes and visit the Mayan World. The area’s hotel offerings include distinctive all-inclusive resorts as well as a variety of European Plan hotels.

These treasures encompass a Mexican paradise and make up a wealth of precious destinations for visitors to explore in the Mexican Caribbean.

About Cancun:

Cancun, the gateway to Mexico and the Mayan world, offers luxurious hotel infrastructure with more than 28,000 rooms, and is Mexico’s most beautiful and stylish destination. Opportunities for new experiences are everywhere, as the setting brings you into contact with both nature and Mayan culture like nowhere else.

Top-level gastronomy and nightlife; warm beaches with soft, white sand; crystal-clear, turquoise seas; and a location opposite the Great Mesoamerican Reef System, in tandem with Mexico’s world-famous hospitality, make Cancun an entirely unique tourist destination.

Cancun Convention and Visitors Bureau: www.cancun.travel.

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With great success, Cancun continues to celebrate the MPI MeetDifferent 2010 Convention, taking place for the first time in Mexico. Taking place from February 20th to the 23rd, the event has welcomed over 1,200 participants from the U.S. and Canada meeting and incentive industry.

Fernando Cervantes, Director of Groups and Conventions for the Cancun Convention & Visitors Bureau, stated that MPI has achieved outstanding results, with over 30 site inspection visits, which will generate more international events this year. The CVB is also looking to bring the World Education Conference (WEC) to Cancun in 2015, an event that will gather more than 4,000 event organizers from North America.

MPI’s General Director, Bruce MacMillan, is pleased with this year’s MPI meeting and stated that “Cancun is a world class destination. Coming here was the best decision we could have made. It has very much exceeded our expectations.” MPI is an organization with more than 23,000 members in 84 countries, all who generate an annual economic income of $12 billion dollars, a result of putting together congresses and conventions all over the world.

Activities during the MPI MeetDifferent 2010 Convention included a golf tournament, a silent auction and other networking events, which helped raise more than $125,000 dollars and will be used towards market research by MPI.

Among the competitive advantages that Cancun offers as the leading destination for large events in Mexico, is air connectivity, ample infrastructure, quality services and tax-free international events. Cancun attracts approximately 630,000 meetings and conventions professionals every year. These visitors spend an average of $1,250 dollars per stay, 30 percent more than the average tourist.

About Cancun

Cancun is located in the northern part of the southeastern Mexican state of Quintana Roo. The island of Cancun is in the shape of a “7” and is bordered to the north by the Bahia de Mujeres; to the east by the Caribbean Sea; and to the west by the Nichupte Lagoon. Cancun is Mexico’s largest tourist destination and boasts 146 hotels with a total of 28,808 rooms. Opportunities for new experiences abound in Cancun, which offers visitors an ideal setting for interacting with nature and discovering Mayan culture.

Cancun Convention and Visitors Bureau www.cancun.travel

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Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE) and the MPI Foundation announced a major AIBTM research alliance at MPI’s MeetDifferent in Cancun today. In an initiative which further focuses both parties’ long standing relationship, the MPI Foundation will produce a comprehensive initiative on meeting and business event performance to be presented at AIBTM in Baltimore in June 2011 as part of an America Meetings Week.

This initiative is a culmination of a broad scope of initiatives that will focus on studying and understanding the appreciable business value of meetings. “Through this alliance, meeting and event professionals will gain access to critical data and resources to more effectively design, implement and measure the business value of their meetings.
We see our relationship with RTE as a prime driver in highlighting our commitment to content and thought leadership around the world.” said Bruce MacMillan, MPI President and CEO. Vanessa Cotton, CMM Chair Reed Travel Exhibitions Meetings and Incentives Events, comments, “One of the areas that will set us apart from other events for the meetings industry in North America is our reputation in providing best professional education.
Whether from the corporate, association or agency sector, this major piece of research is designed to provide the industry with information on key trends and developments that will have a significant impact on their business. “Our global partnership with MPI, which additionally includes the development of education programs at all our IBTM events in Barcelona, Abu Dhabi, Beijing and now Baltimore, is an indication of the importance both parties place on the providing the industry at all levels with sources of relevant and validated knowledge.”
AIBTM will provide meeting and event professionals in all sectors – association, corporate, government and third party – with quality interaction with over 300 North American and international exhibitors.
It is set to attract 500 Hosted Buyers, of which 100 will come from outside America and around 2,500 trade visitors made up of largely North American based meeting planners with domestic, interstate business. America Meetings Week will raise the profile of the meetings and events industry to the wider business market and political community across North America, focusing on the economic contribution which meetings and events make to the economy, the number of jobs supported and the positive benefits which effective meetings and events bring to business development and communication.

About the MPI Foundation: The mission of the MPI Foundation is to power the vision of Meeting Professionals International (MPI), the meetings and events industry’s largest and most vibrant global community comprised of more than 23,000 members representing 84 countries worldwide. Contributions from MPI members, chapters, and organizations are invested in high-impact programs to support a rich, global meetings and events industry and shape the future of the meetings and events profession. For more information, visit www.mpifoundation.org.

About RTE: Reed Travel Exhibitions organises a wide range of events, including exhibitions, conferences, congresses and meetings. Its portfolio of over 470 events serves 44 industry sectors, including: Aerospace & aviation, automobiles, broadcasting, building & construction, electronics, energy, oil & gas, engineering, manufacturing, environment, food service & hospitality, gifts, healthcare, interior design, IT & telecoms, jewellery, life science & pharmaceuticals, machinery, medical education, printing & graphics, property & real estate, security & safety, sports & recreation, travel. RTE organise 14 events worldwide, including World Travel Market, Arabian Travel Market, European Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings Exhibition (EIBTM), Americas Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings Exhibition (AIBTM), Asia Pacific Incentives & Meetings Expo (AIME), International Golf Travel Market, Top Resa, ICCA Exhibition, in association with the ICCA Congress, International Luxury Travel Market (ILTM), La Cumbre, City Break, China Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings Exhibition (CIBTM), Gulf Incentive Business Travel & Meetings (GIBTM) and Asia Luxury Travel Market (ALTM).

The National Park located on the West Coast of Isla Mujeres, Punta Cancun and Punta Nizuc, which welcomes approximately 750,000 annual tourists, will feature more than 400 concrete sculptures making it the world’s largest underwater museum, located in the waters facing Cancun and Isla Mujeres.

At a cost of more than $350,000 dollars, the project has been put into place to help conserve natural reefs and give them the opportunity to flourish. The Marine National Park has stepped up to the challenge of diverting tourists away from natural habitats along the natural coral reef units, without losing their visitors and the $36 million dollars they bring into the area each year.

Since November 14th of last year, Phase 1 of the project included the sinking of three sculptures under the supervision of prominent artist and underwater sculptor Jason de Caires Taylor, including sculptures such as “Dream Collector,” “Man on Fire” and “The Gardener of Hope.”

The second phase of this magnificent project is well underway, with the hopes that it will eventually become the largest underwater museum in the world with more than 400 sculptures placed on the sand, as well as sunk to a variety of different depths, throughout the national park. These sculptures will be placed near natural reefs and marine life in order to create an artificial habitat. Once this stage is completed, additional artists will be invited to display their sculptures and contribute to the museum.

Each individual work of art will be life-sized and will be mounted on a base of four square meters and will consist of themed galleries such as “The Quiet Evolution.”

The museum seeks to promote, among other things, the philosophy of conservation, as is the “Dream Collector” sculpture, which contains bottles with messages of good hope sent from around the world. One of the first messages in a bottle attached to the above mentioned sculpture reads: “May our hearts, never become as hard as our heads,” by Roberto Diaz, President of the Cancun Underwater Museum.

Because of the excellence through this important project, sculptor and artist Jason de Caires Taylor, has accepted the title as Artistic Director of the museum.

Jaime Gonzalez, the national park’s director, estimates that by April 2010, there should be nearly 250 sculptures in the underwater museum.

For more information, please visit the museum’s website at: http://www.underwatersculpture.com

Downloadable high resolution versions of the photos included in this release are available at https://www.sendthisfile.com/XoloRKCUqdoKykGx2QIjAEZc

About Cancun:

Cancun, the gateway to Mexico and the Mayan world, offers luxurious hotel infrastructure with more than 28,000 rooms, and is Mexico’s most beautiful and stylish destination. Opportunities for new experiences are everywhere, as the setting brings you into contact with both nature and Mayan culture like nowhere else.

Top-level gastronomy and nightlife; warm beaches with soft, white sand; crystal-clear, turquoise seas; and a location opposite the Great Mesoamerican Reef System, in tandem with Mexico’s world-famous hospitality, make Cancun an entirely unique tourist destination.
Cancun Convention and Visitors Bureau: www.cancun.travel.

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On February 21st through the 24th, the 2010 Rio Group Summit will be held in Cancun, Mexico.
During this summit, President Calderon will meet with several of his Latin American counterparts with an agenda that will include meetings with Mexican Foreign Ministry.

Among the meetings planned is a gathering between President Felipe Calderon, current Chilean President, Michelle Bachelet and Chilean president-elect, Sebastian Pinera, since after this meeting in Mexico, Chile will take over the ministry of the Rio Group, pro tempore.

Another meeting during the summit that draws attention is President Calderon’s reunion with Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez. The subjects discussed at this event will focus on Mercosur.

Other leaders who have confirmed their participation are: Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil; Tabare Vazquez, President of Uruguay, Jose Mujica, president-elect of Uruguay, Rafael Correa, Ecuador’s President and Alvaro Uribe, President of Colombia, just to name a few.

As part of the security operation, the presence of state and federal police has been increased within the destination, as well as in the Cancun International Airport, because of the participation of important officials such as Presidents and Ministers of 30 countries in this important Summit.