World Meetings Forum meetings industry Mexico tourism, Digi Mart USA News (Cancún, Quintana Roo): The meetings industry is one of the “great flags” Mexico should promote because it has repeatedly been the sector that reactivates economic spending and tourism promotion at the country’s destinations after periods of economic crisis or the pandemic, said Rafael Hernández, president of World Meetings Forum (WMF). For 13 years he has promoted a business platform that brings together leading representatives of the sector nationally and internationally.
“Mexico continues to grow in meetings. New infrastructure is being developed with group needs in mind.
Hotels want adequate event spaces because they understand the relevance and the benefit it generates across the supplier chain. In addition, air connectivity matters, and proof of that is that Aeroméxico is opening more international routes, which gives us the opportunity to reach, for example, Korea, something we used to see as distant,” Hernández said.
To date, Hernández has led more than 65 events under the WMF brand inside and outside the country, including in Spain, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic. Next year he expects to have a presence in Panama, Portugal, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates, particularly Abu Dhabi, and in 2028 he plans to reach Japan.
His agenda also includes a trip to Dubai with incentive-segment representatives, a destination he is also considering returning to in order to launch the WMF business platform, which he created after recognizing a gap in the market. For now, the destination is hosting the ninth edition of WMF Global, with more than 200 participants, including representatives of Grupo Xcaret, Volaris, Caribe Mexicano, Iberia, Hotel Live Aqua and Meliá, who view it as a place to do business and build networks.
In an interview with El Economista between business meetings, Hernández said that on average each buyer holds between 22 and 25 business appointments, and each is estimated to generate an average business value of US$300,000 across its different supplier stages, although contracts of up to US$3 million have been documented. Those contracts can include all services, such as transfers, lodging, experiences and food.
He said the organization closely monitors these figures because its commitment is that every participant returns home with a closed deal.
Hernández said closing deals depends heavily on the team that qualifies buyers in Mexico and abroad. The organization continually cleans its databases and monitors new companies and entrepreneurs, and each person seated for a ten-minute conversation is carefully selected.
Asked when countries began participating as invited guests, Hernández said the growth has been gradual: a destination tries the event, then returns and invites other players from its environment. Vancouver was previously represented by one person and now has a pavilion, the Czech Republic moved from an office presence to participating with suppliers, and Spain now comes with two airlines.
Hernández also said the private sector promotes Mexican tourism, and that some exporters have told the organization it helps promote Mexico. He said the organization always goes with pride in the Mexican flag.
This year, one of its meetings in Guadalajara was scheduled one week after a high-level police operation in February. Participants from Spain, Colombia and Costa Rica asked whether it would be safe to attend, and he told them to trust that the authorities were working and that the event would show the reality of the country.
According to Hernández, there were no cancellations.
