A point of interest for anyone considering buying Mexico real estate is the upcoming elections in Mexico. During the last week, all 3 major candidates have voiced intentions to support growing tourism. For expat buyers, this is good news, since tourism is the main driving force behind the lifestyle and conveniences enjoyed in most expat communities.
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador – Socialism and Fast Trains for Tourists
While there is a good deal of variety in polls, according to http://www.eleccion2012mexico.com, Lopez Obrador is currently the front-runner at 34%, but only by a very narrow margin of 0.5 %, which essentially means it’s too close to tell.
Lopez Obrador is the candidate for the leftist PRD party; while some observers are concerned about what this could mean, he continues to reassure voters that he is also committed to supporting and promoting tourist growth because “it is an activity that creates jobs and wealth†for his working class base, “besides being the second source of national income.â€
Speaking at the National Tourism Forum, Riviera Maya 2012, Lopez Obrador assured that if he wins, his government will place priority on “promoting tourism.” He explained that unlike the complexity of having to rescue the agriculture and the energy sectors, tourism is an activity that has remained stable and productive even during the worst times of the economic crisis.
One specific project he is promising is to build a fast “bullet†train from Cancun to Palenque, a large and beautiful Mayan pyramid site in the state of Chiapas. This would help to create on large “Mayan†tourist region extending even beyond the Yucatan Peninsula, a process which can already be seen beginning on the peninsula itself.
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Josefina Vazquez Mota – Investment and Growth
The PAN, “National Action Party,†is the center-conservative party that has held the last 2 presidencies. Their economic policies have brought considerable modernization, infrastructure improvements and economic growths over the past decade. The priority of the current PAN president, Felipe Calderon, has been to make tourism the country’s #1 priority both on a federal and state level.
The party’s current candidate, Josefina Vazquez Mota, recently stated unequivocally that the tourism sector is a priority in the renewed growth of the Mexican economy, which would largely be continuing the policy of the current president. She recognized tourism as a strategic activity in the country’s development, as well as employment generation.
“Tourism is the sector that deserves the utmost importance and the largest investment because of its ability to generate employment, training and education, and its ability to generate added value to investment in the country,†she said.
Vazquez Mota said she is convinced that the Tourism Board of Mexico, the body responsible for tourist destinations nationally and internationally, should be given autonomy in their management and this should serve as a technical body and not as a political organ.
“Just as we must depoliticize education, we must also depoliticize the Tourism Board of Mexico,” she said.
Enrique Pena Nieto – New Development and Modernization
Enrique Pena Nieto, who currently sits at about 30%, is the candidate for the PRI, the party that ruled Mexico for over 70 years, from shortly after the end of the Mexican Revolution to 2000. This week he stated that tourism is one of the economic activities that will further support and be an impetus to Mexico’s economy.
He announced his intention to create a fund within the development banks, to support tourism activities for the modernization of existing infrastructure and to promote new developments and new tourist infrastructure in the country.
While there is most certainly much to be watched for the upcoming election, buyers can find it reassuring that all the major candidates, who are virtually neck in neck for popularity, see the importance of tourism for Mexico.
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