Congrats
Mario Salinas Nicaragua’s Tourism Minister I’ve been keeping track of the Excelencias magazine for several years now and I’ve been able to see the importance and, above all, the significant impact it has in the public, in their travel intentions to the different destinations broached in its pages in a creative and smart way. I believe Excelencias has given a tremendous support to Latin American nations in their efforts to promote its tourist products, bringing an image of our region to all major outbound markets and to the world’s finest fairs and events over the past 14 years. So, we appreciate it for believing and trusting in our destinations, and for looking to our future with all of us.
Gabriel Canaves Human Resources Manager for Sol Melia’s Cuba Hotels I’ve always read the Excelencias magazine because to me it has two major identifiers: first, the narrative content that, in my opinion, has no match in the region; and second, the design and the photography.
Jose Eduardo Vallejo Promotion Director with Ecuador’s Tourism Minister I think this magazine boasts many virtues and one of the, one of the most outstanding ones, is its faithful allegiance to this region and the expressiveness it has been provided with to reflect the colors, the ambience and the happiness of our countries in the Americas. On the other hand, it’s been a very useful tool for the promotion of our destinations that, in the case of Ecuador, has been enhanced to its broadest biodiversity.
Soraya Torres Barceló Hotels & Resorts Sales Manager for Latin America, France, Italy, Russia and Eastern Europe Specialized publications like Excelencias magazine are highly important to put the word out on our products and to guide our customers and travelers whenever they want to go to a destination in Latin America and the Caribbean. That’s why it’s so satisfactory to have this magazine, which is a constant reminder of the job we all get done to provide better comfort, fanciness and enjoyment of our hotels, especially in Cuba.
Eligio Serna Najera Mexico’s Tourism Promotion Council Director for Spain and Portugal In Mexico we’re confident 2011 is going to be a good year. Private investment in tourism-oriented projects ramped up to $902.9 million between January and March this year, up a staggering 127 percent from the first quarter of 2010. These are resources mostly poured into lodging, real-estate tourism and the foodstuff and beverage sectors. Private investment during President Calderon’s six-year term reached nearly $14.6 billion, a sign that Mexico continues to be a luring and safe travel destination for investors, especially in the tourist industry. Out of all foreign tourists who arrived in Mexico in 2010, as much as 98 percent came back, up 1 percent from the previous year. The Tourist Satisfaction and Profile Study report shows that in 2009, around 99 percent of all foreign visitors recommended our tourist attractions. To us, the Excelencias magazine is one of the finest mass media in the industry. For this office it has been a major ally and facilitator because it keeps the public posted on the niceties our travel destinations have to offer, and it does it in a professional and trustworthy way. Mexico boasts a longstanding history of over 3,000 years. It’s one of the nations with more biodiversity on the face of the planet, home to many of the best beaches in the world, the first country in terms of archeological sites (over 30,000) and more than 110,000 historic monuments. It’s also the sixth nation with more World Heritage sites and the first in spas, let alone the second in luxury tourism. Based on all of the above, we’re confident this is going to be a good year for Mexico’s tourism, with positive impacts in the outcomes of the hotel sector and Spanish tour operators, and in all this Excelencias has played a major role. Thanks for your commitment and we’d love to celebrate with the entire Excelencias Group, our friends, this 100th issue and the many more to come.
Don Nicolas Muela Velazco Director-Manager of the Doña Maria de las Mercedes Foundation For the Hispanic-American region, with its history, cuisine, culture and natural beauties, this is no doubt a very special magazine. Our foundation, as an ally and as a friend, is pleased to send you our warmest congratulations on the launch of this 100th issue happening together with its 14th anniversary.
Lizt Alfonso Director and Choreographer of the Lizt Alfonso Ballet Company Excelencias is a magazine that conveys safety and certainty through its well-conceived messages, its distinguished elegance, its good-looking design and making. For these same characteristics, I must say this publication has many things in common with the ballet company I run.
Leo Brouwer Cuban Musician I’d only heard of the Excelencias magazine, but just by name. From the moment I had it in my hands I quickly noticed the tremendous quality and beauty of its contents and presentation. Then I read Gourmet and the Art magazines, the Excelencias del Motor magazine, and again I was spellbound.
Herman van Hooff Director of UNESCO’s Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean / UNESCO Havana Our most sincere and heartfelt congratulations to the Excelencias magazine on this special milestone; for being a valuable publication that has permanently shown a willingness to promote our actions by means of the lovely UNESCO Dossiers.
Ana Larrañaga FITUR Director General For over 30 years, FITUR has grown to be Spain’s number-one travel fair and one of the first in the world. What can you comment on its upcoming edition? The first data of the year show positive results, with steady growth in the first months of 2011. The fair is usually a reflection of how the sector is faring and I’m sure that FITUR 2012, slated for Jan. 18-22, will also reflect this evolution. In the face of next year’s edition, we’re working on some projects for the grand opening of new travel and tourism sections, like the ones dedicated to camping and religious trips that, based on the preliminary opinions we have received, will be highly acclaimed. In addition to that, we’ll strengthen other areas that came into being in previous editions, like FITUR Green, LGBT and Incoming Spain. Are you aware of Excelencias magazine’s 14th anniversary and the launch of its 100th issue? What can you tell its publishing team? The undisputed importance of Excelencias in the tourism realm is crystal clear, especially as a firsthand channel for the promotion of travel destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean. I guess one of the greatest virtues of this magazine is that it goes far beyond the presentation of a certain location and it rather tackles tourism from a multitude of sides: cuisine, music, folklore. By doing this kind of presentation, it’s way too hard not to find something about a destination that can actually grab your attention. There’s no doubt that Excelencias magazine is a top-notch, far-reaching promotional tool this region can call its own. Moreover, the daily CND issues we read are also indispensable for those who really want to be in the know about the sector.
Iyolexis Correa Director of Cuba’s Tourism Promotion Office in Madrid We want to congratulate the Excelencias magazine’s team on its 100th issue, a publication that keeps readers well informed on what’s going down in the travel industry around the Caribbean and the Americas, pretty much in line with the kind of development the region’s sector has achieved over the past decade. The magazine is a major tool to promote the culture, the history and the main novelties of this region in terms of travel and tourism, so we wish it many successes in this and upcoming issues. Cuba is well know and remains as one of the top travel destinations among Spaniards, and it’s all owed to the many opportunities it has to offer for activities linked to culture and nature as complements to the sun-and-sand products. This combination is no doubt its major attribute because it becomes a multidestination all by itself, in which visitors can combine different products and modalities.
Maria Badhak MITT General Manager In Eastern Europe, MITT is a must-attend fair. How do you see the future and how can we continue helping from the Excelencias magazine? In MITT 2011 we welcomed a record-breaking 189 countries and for the first time ever we received delegations from Venezuela, Nicaragua, EL Salvador and Mexico, while Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Panama have been attending for quite some time now. Euromonitor International expects Russia to provide nearly 12 million new outbound trips between 2011 and 2015. Last year Russians made a total of 39.3 million trips overseas. As the organizers of travel and tourism exhibitions in emerging markets, it’s very important for us to collaborate with the Excelencias Group in order to have access to updated information, news on the South American travel markets and meet the industry’s stakeholders, and all that information is contained in the pages of your magazine. We rely on this publication and its online version to promote our exhibition in Moscow and we’re very happy with the results. I’d like to congratulate Jose Carlos de Santiago and his team for the launch of the 100th issue. We wish you the very best!
Luis Callejon President de EUROAL and Director of the Torremolinos Convention Palace Under the ongoing circumstances affecting the world economy, how do you view EUROAL’s contribution to increasing the number of tourist arrivals toward Spain? From the inaugural edition, EUROAL’s philosophy has set out to turn Torremolinos, Costa del Sol and Andalusia into a meeting ground for travel companies and institutions involved in the advance and promotion of destinations. Costa del Sol’s communication infrastructure gives this region a technological edge for travel and tourism distribution in Latin America, featuring tourist programs designed for Andalusia, Spain and the rest of Europe. The Pablo Ruiz Picasso International Airport –the most important and modern of southern Europe- is destined to be a major hub of passengers moving between the two continents in the short run. Connectivity to and from any European capital can bear that out. In addition, there are high train connections with the rest of Spain and the port of Malaga, where the number of docking cruise liners is on the rise. For instance, quite recently RCCL decided to make Malaga its homeport in the Mediterranean Sea. This, coupled with maritime operations in the area, will definitely turn Malaga into Europe’s small Miami. As president of an event designed to bridge the gap between Latin America and Europe, what can you say about our magazine and its efforts to reach out to Latin American and Caribbean travel destinations within the tourism industry? The Excelencias Group, characterized by a serious and pragmatic job, has dramatically contributed to giving Latin American and Caribbean travel destination significant media hype. We avail ourselves of this opportunity to congratulate the entire magazine’s team and the Excelencias Group on the launch of the 100th issue. We wish you many more achievements in the future.
Salo Shamah Minister of the Panama Tourism Authority For us at the Panama Tourism Authority, it’s a tremendous privilege to be a part of this excellent publication and be in the contents of the 100th issue. This is a magazine that throughout its history has poured significant efforts and dedication to become one of the main printed means in today’s world tourism. That’s why we are so pleased to join you all in this celebration and wish you many happy returns on the road ahead.
Paola Dmitri Buonpensiere Chief of the Dominican Republic’s Tourism Office in Spain and Portugal The Excelencias magazine has undoubtedly been a major promotional tool for our destination since it has given us the opportunity to showcase the diversity of our products in each and every market. This fabulous magazine has been an ally of ours in fairs and it has supported us in presentations and launches. In a word, it’s a superb publication that helps our promotional offices in Europe to get the job done by spreading the country’s headline news in travel and tourism, and by making attractive presentations of both offers and products. Speaking of the Dominican Republic and regardless of the complex situation going on in Spain, we’re very upbeat. Social upheavals in northern Africa and the Middle East have opened up a window of opportunity for the Caribbean region, redirecting travelers that used to prefer those aforesaid destinations in the past. We cash in on the preferences of those travelers who look for superb service and an assorted offer that combines nature, lifestyle, culture and the unfathomable warmth and hospitality of the Dominican people. And all this much is ruled by an excellent quality-price ratio. This opportunity has bound us to view the promotion of the destination through an appeasing proposal full of that same frolicking gleefulness the Dominican people are marked by. I wish you the very best and many more years to come for this amazing magazine!
Pilar Cano, Executive Director of the Central America Tourism Promotion Agency (CATA) The Excelencias magazine has provided our Madrid office with an extraordinary and indispensable support in carrying out its job, in strengthening Central America as a rock-solid travel destination. With this publication, you can generate incredible interest in making people see what our destinations have to offer: their natural and cultural values, their business opportunities in terms of tourism infrastructure. That’s why we want to send out our warmest congrats on the launch of the 100th issue and a far larger collection of achievements in the future.
Gelu Farias Tura Marketing Manager of Santa Barbara Airlines Modern aviation is a key factor to the travel industry. How has your airline contributed to the flows of visitors from all around the world, especially from Latin America and the Caribbean? SBA Airlines pursues the objective of bringing people together and that’s what we are. We’re a group of people engaged in this commercial mission that has to do with either the passenger who visits his or her relatives and friends, or the business executive who takes a flight to bring ideas and benefits closer together. What I mean is that all these people with different goals can count on us to make this happen. We stand for a pretty strong bond between Latin America and Europe, and that’s why our service, our human values and our job are all focused on our customers. We look to the future with optimism and enthusiasm, to the bright future of this increasingly demanding and fascinating industry called tourism.
Over the past 14 years, the Excelencias magazine has promoted tourism in Latin America and the Caribbean. Now the publication is putting out its 100th issue. What can you say about that? It’s a crucial tool for sharing views and opinions, something so important right now for the sake of serious and encouraging communication. We’re confident that this publication’s outreach is paramount to foster exchanges among cultures, to share experiences that can help readers make up their minds in terms of vacation travel from a vast array of choices, some of them quite unknown sometimes. From SBA Airlines, we send our warmest congratulations to the Excelencias magazine on a job well done for the sake of the tourism industry.
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