Vidanta Foundation’s inaugural “Forum Vidanta”
Discuss the future of Mexico’s travel industry Forum Vidanta

Celebrities, creatives, entrepreneurs, students, and travel enthusiasts were welcomed to the Vidanta Foundation’s inaugural “Forum Vidanta” to discuss the future of Mexico’s travel industry. The four-day convention was hosted in The Grand Vidanta Convention Center at the Vidanta Nuevo Vallarta resort in Nuevo Vallarta, a resort community in the state of Nayarit off the western coast of Mexico.

The Forum’s approximately 450 attendees included special guests Brooke Shields and Gwyneth Paltrow, as well as travel industry leaders and other sociopolitical luminaries. Among these were Grupo Vidanta’s Founder and President, Daniel Chávez Morán; the Vidanta Foundation’s President, Roberto Russell; Mexico’s Commissioner of Protected Areas, Alejandro del Mazo Maza; the Lonely Planet’s CEO, Daniel Houghton; Cirque du Soleil’s President and CEO, Daniel Lamarre; and El Bulli’s creator, Ferran Adriá.

The Forum consisted of discussion panels and keynote speeches on Tourism and Digital Strategies, The Environment and Sustainable Tourism, Mexican Gastronomy as a Tourist Attraction, and Creativity and Culture. In addition, attendees wereentertained by a one-act performance of Cirque de Soleil’s JOYÀ, which premiered at Vidanta Riviera Maya in 2014.

Presiding over the Forum was Founder and President of Grupo Vidanta, Daniel Chávez Morán, who said, “Tourism is strengthened by diversity.” He went on to state that the travel industry has an obligation to support the surrounding communities so that the local people can “live and be well.”

As part of Grupo Vidanta’s threefold program to increase productivity, employees will receive training certificates and a 15% raise during their first year of employment. Their second year will consist ofcross training within various departments and an additional 15% wage increase. The company also offers financial counseling and interest-free loans of up to 50%.

In Daniel Houghton’s keynote address on Tourism and Digital Strategies, the former CEO of Lonely Planet said, “The success of a company is based on the people who work with you, not just internally. A chain of trust must be created in both your workers and your suppliers.” He also discussed how new times call for new measures. While time is still an essential factor for most travelers when planning their trips and transportation, marketing is no longer as simple as creating visually attractive content but must also stimulate the viewer’s imagination.

In Brooke Shields’ words, the millennials who are driving the tourism industry want travel to be more like “coming home than leaving home.” While their travel plans are influenced by e-commerce, social media, and online reviews of the destinations they’d like to visit, they also tend to be highly skeptical of influencers with more than 100,000 followers, realizing that these people may have an ulterior motive for promoting a particular destination. This is good news for travel sites with an interactive, thriving community of travelers and locals who have real-life insights into the places that they review.

Moreover, millennial trends tend to influence older generations, and their mindset is projected to continue with the younger Generation Z. Thus, considering the millennial mindset will generate more positive reviews, better serving the travel industry across generations.

Another recurring theme throughout the Forum was the emphasis on valuing and sustaining the local culture and residents. In a dialogue on Tourism Policies moderated by Carlos Loret de Mola, Eduardo Fayos-Solà, Francisco Madrid Flores, and Roberto Martínez Yllescas discussed how preserving Mexican sites for their own sake, rather than for their tourist value, will paradoxically improve tourism while benefiting the lives of the local people.

As millennials’ interest in unique and “vanishing destinations” continues to fund such endeavors as Mexico’s Programa Pueblos Mágicos (“Magical Towns Program”), more money can be used for sustainable tourism, which simultaneously promotes and protects these culturally significant areas for future generations.

A large part of furthering the cause of the pueblos mágicos is through the international language of art. On the final day of the Forum, Daniel Lamarre, the President and CEO of Cirque de Soleil, stated, “Entertainment brings tourists,and tourists bring entertainment. So, there is a connection between entertainment and tourism – a connection that we must see and reinforce through creativity.”

Echoing Daniel Houghton, he said that being an industry leader means understanding one’s brand and thinking outside the box every day. According to a dialogue on Festivals and Tourism between Cecilia Palma, Cristina King, and Tomás Bermúdez, this includes promoting local traditions as well as combining cultures in new and interesting ways. Effective mediums include art, film, theatre, technology, festivals, and book fairs.