Cvent and Mexico Meetings Network Partner to Drive Meetings Business to Mexico

January 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Partnership has Raised Awareness of Mexico as a Meetings Destination and Increased the Flow of Group Business to the Country

MCLEAN, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Cvent, the world’s largest cloud-based provider of event management, venue selection and web survey solutions, today announced that its one-year-old partnership with Mexico Meetings Network (MMN) has successfully helped to increase the flow of group meetings and events business to destinations in Mexico. Under the partnership, Cvent and MMN are working together to provide Convention & Visitor Bureaus (CVBs) and venues in Mexico with integrated online marketing packages that showcase Mexico cities and properties to highly-qualified meeting and event planners.

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Filed Under: Destinations, Industry News Tagged With:

AMResorts to Open Secrets The Vine in Cancun August 2012

January 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Secrets Resorts & Spas to debut the brand’s first resort in Cancun’s Hotel Zone

PHILADELPHIA, PA – January 6, 2012 – AMResorts, provider of sales, marketing and brand management services for Zoëtry Wellness & Spa Resorts, and Secrets, Dreams, Now and Sunscape Resorts & Spas, will introduce the Secrets Resorts & Spas brand to Cancun’s popular Hotel Zone with the opening of adults-only Secrets The Vine Cancun in August 2012. The resort becomes AMResorts’ twenty first property in Mexico and tenth for the Secrets brand.

The newly built Secrets The Vine is located on the golden Yucatan Peninsula coastline. The property features 495 luxurious guest rooms, all with ocean views, private balconies, Italian porcelain floors, and teak wood furnishings.

The Secrets The Vine’s lobby celebrates fine wine in both its design and menu offerings with a designated wine tasting area for guests, the Enoteca (wine cellar). Featuring a Mexican handcrafted wood table with seating for up to 30 guests, a unique wine wall housing as many as 3000 varieties of wine, and sommelier-lead tastings of some of the world’s finest wine collections, the Enoteca promises guests a rich and relaxing wine tasting experience.

All resort guests will enjoy the benefits of Secrets Resorts & Spas’ signature Unlimited-Luxury® vacation concept which offers limitless access to gourmet a la carte dining and premium beverage brands, 24-hour room and concierge services, countless daytime activities, live evening entertainment, and more.

The resort features seven distinctive restaurants and three bars offering a variety of experiences. Additionally, guests have access to a range of activities including land and water sports, daily special events such as movies on the beach, dance classes, nightly shows, evening entertainment and more.

Secrets The Vine’s 12,580 square-feet spa offers the perfect atmosphere for those seeking relaxation with a selection of signature treatments and hydrotherapy experience inspired by the underground limestone caves and subterranean open water pools of the Yucatan Peninsula. A fitness center facility and full service beauty salon also are available.

The resort’s variety of meeting spaces, including 17,000 square feet of flexible meeting and event space overlooking the Nichupté lagoon, is ideal for group meetings and incentive travelers.

Secrets The Vine also provides the perfect romantic setting for couples with many special amenities; and wedding, honeymoon and anniversary packages available.

Introductory Rate

To celebrate the impending opening, Secrets Resorts & Spas is offering a limited time pre-opening special of $160 per person per night based on double occupancy for travel between August 1 – October 28, 2012, and $175 per person per night for travel between October 29 – December 27, 2012.*

*NOTE: The booking window is 11/29/11 to 1/31/12. Book at SecretsResorts.com.

About Secrets® Resorts & Spas

Unlimited-Luxury® Secrets Resorts & Spas offer adults an extra measure of romance and sensuality in beautiful settings where everything is included. The award-winning resorts feature elegantly-appointed rooms and suites with 24-hour concierge and room services; multiple gourmet, a la carte restaurants and lounges serving premium beverages; endless day and evening activities in spectacular settings; and more. Most Secrets Resorts & Spas properties are members of Preferred Hotels & Resorts Worldwide; Secrets Marquis Los Cabos is a The Leading Hotels of the World designated resort. Information about Secrets Resorts & Spas is available by calling 1-866-GO-SECRETS or visiting www.secretsresorts.com.

Filed Under: Blog, Destinations, Featured Tagged With: ,

Last Minute Centerpiece Steals the Show in Guadalajara

September 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

It is funny, I never really do any talking about decor. Not my gig I guess, although I have strong opinions about what does and does not work for meetings and events.

This is a really cool idea that came from the folks at the Crowne Plaza Guadalajara. They were the host for our recent Site Chicago educational event and time was limited. We would be arriving, going straight to breakfast and then directly to the meeting rooms with very little time for a proper site inspection (it is a nice property by the way).

Because we would not have time to see the entire property at length, someone had the great idea to use flat screens as the centerpiece for breakfast with a slideshow detailing the property. Way Cool…..

The slideshow was the topic of conversation during breakfast and even made for conversation over a few tequilas later in the evening.

I think that the beauty of the idea is the simplicity of it…..

Post reprinted courtesy of PlannerWire

Filed Under: Destinations, Events Tagged With:

Mexico’s Meeting and Conventions Industry Growing as Tourism Surges

September 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

ICCA ranks Mexico 22nd worldwide for international association meetings

MEXICO CITY, June 7, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Mexico’s Meeting, Incentives, Congress, and Exhibitions business continues to grow, and has been ranked 22nd worldwide in the latest rankings by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA).   Mexico moved up five (5) places in the 2010  rankings  from its 2009 ranking of 27th, in the number of events with a nearly 31 percent increase in meetings held in Mexico.

This comes to no surprise, as visitor arrivals to Mexico have been on the rise.  Most recently, the Secretariat of Tourism (SECTUR) announced that in 2010 Mexico was the main destination for tourists from the United States by capturing 14.7 percent of overseas US tourism. This represents the highest number of U.S. travelers to Mexico since 2005, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

“Destinations and entities continue to invest in infrastructure, equipment and services… But Mexico has much more to offer,” said Gloria Guevara Manzo, Mexico’s Secretary of Tourism, in a press release. “In order to continue our competitiveness, we will also promote less well-known destinations that can be of interest for international conventions.”

And international convention planners have clearly taken notice. In 2010, Mexico was host to 140 international conventions, many of them taking place in Mexico City. ICCA ranked Mexico City 15th on the international list of top cities for congresses and conventions, with more than 36,000 annual participants. Mexico City clinched the 5th spot in the Americas category, having hosted 43 conventions. International meetings are defined as those organized by international associations which take place on a regular basis and rotate between a minimum of three countries.

The conventions and meetings industry and tourism growth may be in part due to increased levels of investment in tourism projects. During the first trimester of 2011, more than US $900 million were spent on tourism projects in Mexico, according to the Secretary of Tourism. The investments represent a 127 percent increase from 2010.   The Secretary of Tourism, has stated that “the resources were primarily allocated to projects relating to the areas of accommodations, real estate tourism, and the food and beverage industry.”

SOURCE: Ministry of the Economy, Mexico

Filed Under: Destinations, Industry News Tagged With: ,

Site Board Member Mexico Meetings Network Interview

September 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Site Chicago Board Member Interview

Mexico Meetings Network just published an interview Board Member Keith Johnston did with them last month, here is an excerpt. The complete interview can be found by clicking the link after the excerpt!

In the interview, Keith talks about our Annual Retreat in Guadalajara, Mexico and the realities of taking an event to this amazing country.

The Excerpt:

Keith Johnston is a Chicago based event and meeting professional with 15 years in the meetings industry, planning meetings, conferences, incentives and tradeshows. Keith is currently the editor and publisher of Meetings Blog PlannerWire.net and Famit.net which cover issues facing the meetings and events industry, as well as looking at destinations where meetings and event planners should be taking their programs.

Keith has organized several meetings and incentive trips to Mexico over the years, and he recently attended the Chicago Chapter of Site International’s annual retreat in Guadalajara, Jalisco. In this Mexico Meetings Network interview, Keith talks more about his experience planning meetings in Mexico.

The Complete Interview at Mexico Meetings Network

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