PHOTO: Progreso Beach, outside the city of Merida, Mexico (courtesy of VisitMexico.com)
MERIDA, Mexico - American Society of Travel Agents president-CEO Zane Kerby said the organization chose Merida, Mexico, for this year's Destination Expo because it likes to highlight vacation spots "that are off the beaten path or not as well known."
This certainly is it.
In the past, ASTA has been to Lima, Peru, as well as Turkey. Next year, it's Marrakesh, Morocco. It's not a cliché when Kerby and Mexico Tourism and others said this past week that the nearly 400 combined travel agents and exhibitors here in Merida needed to experience this first hand to better serve their clients, rather than just trying to learn off the Internet.
Indeed, this being my first time in Merida, I did the requisite research before I left and none of it did justice to actually being immersed and entrenched in the culture and the history and the architecture and the museums and the restaurants ….
One thing missing though was what many, especially Americans, expect out of their resort vacations.
The beach.
Oh, it's there. And it's absolutely gorgeous. Progreso Beach has emerald green waters, the requisite beach-side cafes and shops, a boardwalk running parallel to the ocean and its famous four-mile long pier jutting out into the ocean.
But this beach is not near the hotel district, which is located in the heart of the city near many of its cultural attractions.
My one concern is, you can barely see the ocean from your hotel, much less access it. Will anybody want to pack up for the day and head to a beach 18 miles and 30 minutes away, via car or bus, when they've been accustomed to, say, a Cancun, also in the Yucatan Peninsula, where you can step out of your hotel and onto the beach?
"I don't think Merida is that kind of resort," Kerby said. "I think you go to market with the 'resort' mentality, that the beach is the reason and everything else is an excursion."
No, in Merida, the Port of Progreso is the excursion, or the add-on. The selling point isn't the emerald waters, it's the emerald piece of hand-crafted jewelry. The selling point isn't the beach-side restaurants, it's the world-class restaurants in the heart of town. The selling point isn't the pristine sand, it's the ancient ruins.
But for some that's a tough sell. For now, Progreso Beach remains a port-of-call - a day trip, if you will, for cruise line passengers and, well, a day trip for many visitors to Merida as well.
"Oh there's no question you're catering to a different customer," Kerby said. "I think what we've learned here is that Merida is the kind of destination for those that want a little bit of everything. Eco-tourists, architectural aficianados, gastronomical tourists, history buffs. We think that's what makes it special, that it really has so many selling points."
Perhaps in time, as more tourists flock to Merida, it will be a reverse "Field of Dreams." That is, instead of "build it and they will come," it will be "Let's see them come and then we'll build it." Hotels will certainly take notice if tourism here increases and there is demand and need for hotel infrastructure on or close to the beach.
But for now, Progreso Beach still remains one heck of an excursion.
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