by Max Hartshorne on February 12, 2012
Beach at Boca de Tomaltan, on Mexico's Pacific coast.
When we went to
Mexico last month, more than a few people voiced concerns about safety. Again and again, some Americans say they are worried about visiting a country ‘where there is so much drug war violence.’ The stats are scary—more than 40,000 deaths in 2011, yet in today’s WSJ there was a story about the thriving tourism and business climate that exists in Mexico in 2012. Our plane to Puerto Vallarta was full, and nobody we talked to was at all afraid to be flying there.
Business owners are savvy. They don’t let short-term problems stop their long term thinking. So that’s why so many hotel chains are building in Mexico. Intercontinental Hotels will launch 46 new hotels in Mexico by the end of 2014. Hilton now has 23 resorts there and plans a 35% expansion. Marriot has nine hotels that will open between now and 2016.
The influx of tourism is coming not only from the US (it’s the number one overseas destination for Americans) but from up-and-coming countries like Russia, China and Colombia. The article also stated that the visitors from these countries spend much more than Americans and stay three times as long….and that’s why Mexican’s tourism ministry is opening tourism promotion offices in Beijing, Seoul, Moscow and Brussels.
They have also simplified their visa process and are counseling hoteliers on what these new visitors like best: Chinese-archeology, Brazilians-shopping, Russians-bling.
While the gunshots keep on coming along the border, in parts of Sinaloa and other regions, overseas investments just keep flowing into Mexico–$18 billion in 2010 and much of this from the US.
Mexico’s just too great a country to let its tourism and business be controlled by the thugs fighting over their drug territories.
by Max Hartshorne on February 11, 2012
Roger Salloom is an easy-going fellow. The last time I saw him was at Greenfield’s Arts Block, surrounded by friends, where he looked serene and like he was exactly where he wanted to be: About to enjoy local music at a fun local venue.
He sent out an email about his gig tonight, at the Garden House at Look Park, that provided a fascinating synopsis of his long and varied career. Salloom, it seems, is a little bit like how they pitch Maker’s Mark Whiskey. He is what he isn’t.
He’s not a big time recording star. He’s never moved to Nashville, New York, or LA to follow his musical career’s arc, though by some accounts he could have. Rather he’s made a happy life in our Happy Valley, and it has been an interesting enough life to have Chris Sautter make a movie called “So Glad I Made It, the Saga of Roger Salloom, America’s Best Unknown Songwriter.” The movie’s won 6 awards and airs on The Documentary channel again on March 18.
As Roger said, “Get out of the house. Shut off that tv set. Do not go to see a movie and sit in a seat that is 3 feet by 2 feet. Get together with a friend or loved one. Winter is tough around these parts.”
We’ll be there!
by Max Hartshorne on February 9, 2012
Every day we say goodbye to another member of the Greatest Generation, those men and women who were born in the 1920s and now are passing away. I am sad to think that some of what they accomplished and the ways they built their fortunes could never happen again–things are just so different now.
John Sargent died Sunday at 87, the man who ruled Doubleday & Co for two decades. A remembrance in the WSJ recalled how he used to escort Jackie Onassis out on the town, who he hired as one of his book editors. In its heyday, Doubleday was known as the GM of publishing–cranking out 700 titles each year, while they mailed millions of books through book clubs and even had a chain of bookstores across the US.
Sargent was well read and urbane, and hosted lavish dinner parties in his grand New York apartment. He came into the company after time at Harvard College. He left to serve in World War II and never finished school. But he got a job as assistant to the president of Doubleday and then married Neltje Doubleday, the granddaughter of the founder. In 1961 he became president.
His company used to call their close-knit management style as MPB, or Management by Party. Martinis were a lunch staple, said his son, who like his dad is also a book company CEO. Brendan Gill, a New Yorker writer, described his power at the company, saying Ms Doubleday “married a Greek god and she divorced a Roman emperor.”
by Max Hartshorne on February 8, 2012
Once again I took the Megabus down to NYC, this time it cost me just $25.50 roundtrip. My reason for a Big Apple visit was a presentation by French Tourism about what’s new in France for 2012. France has a lot to crow about in the tourism world, even while the whole European economy feels the heat from their less successful countries Greece, Italy and Portugal.
Despite the clouds on the horizon, France’s tourism numbers are still stellar–they get the most of any country with 78 million visitors a year. I remember once an Italian tourism honcho claiming that France benefits in this because to get to Italy, many travelers have to drive through France. But they still have this impressive record since the ’90s.
The event used video to tell the story of what was new in the country. They had close-up videos of the tourism officials and press people speaking about the highlights of Midi-Pyrenees, Rhone-Alpes and Provence. Behind the close up faces were the impressive sights of France…such a beautiful country, and lots of pouring of ruby pink rose wine to make us thirsty.
The Louvre-Lens museum, set to open in April 2012 in Northern France.
In 2012, the Louvre is set to open a regional branch way up north in the small town of Lens. This new Louvre-Lens will display the works from each of the Paris museum’s departments, opening with 300 masterpieces of the Louvre. The Louvre itself will add a new glass structure in the Visconti Courtyard to house a new Islamic wing.
Mont-St-Michel, the beloved and popular island and commune off Normandy’s coast will be getting a little help. Silt from the rivers over the years has made getting there difficult, and three million visitors come each year. A new visitor’s center on the mainland and an electric shuttle will make getting there a lot easier after April 2012.
