Mexico seeks to attract more Chinese travelers

Mexico Pumas booth at 2015 Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, on Aug 7. [Photo/IC]

MEXICO CITY - Mexico needs to facilitate Chinese tourists' visit to the country by training more Chinese-speaking tourist guides and allowing group visas, an official of Mexico's leading tourism association said on Thursday.

In a press release, President of the National Tourism Federation (CNT) Jorge Hernandez Delgado said that he has made this request to the Ministry of Tourism and the Mexico Tourism Promotion Council.

"The number of Chinese travelling around the world is increasing. Mexico receives 75,000 Chinese travelers a year but this market is growing exponentially," he said.

According to the Chinese International Travel Monitor, over 100 million Chinese citizens travel abroad every year.

The Mexican Association of Travel Agents (Fematur), which is also led by Delgado, has set to attract at least 1 percent of Chinese travelers to Mexico within the next three to four years.

However, Delgado admitted the country is not equipped well to receive a large number of Chinese travelers in terms of infrastructure and soft environment.

Fematur has proposed to train Chinese citizens living in Mexico as bilingual guides, implement a visa-free policy or permit group visas for Chinese tourists, he said.