Now that Mexico has elected a new president, Manuel Andres Lopez Obrador, a new secretary of tourism will replace Enrique de la Madrid, who is currently leading SECTUR.
According to Reportur, Miguel Torruco will take on the role on December 1, 2018.
Torruco is well connected within Mexico, counting the country's richest man, Carlos Slim Helu, as a family member by marriage.
His three children are Maria Elena, Gloria, and Mike. Maria Elena is married to Slim's son, Carlos Slim Domit, who heads the board of directors of Telmex, America Movil, Grupo Carso and Grupo Sanborn's.
Torruco has a long history within the tourism industry. One of his first jobs was bellboy at the Hotel del Paseo in Mexico City, where he worked his way up to general manager.
He also held the position of president of the Mexican Association of Hotels from 2000-2004. During his tenure, Torruco oversaw the consolidation of the association from 100 to 60 branches and headed the National Tourist Confederation.
For those looking for cues as to how Torruco will lead the tourism board, he gave some hints during the campaign, noting that "the true potential of a country isn't measured by the number of tourists it receives, but by the perceived income and personal expenditure of each one of them, which is what truly benefits the community that lives in the tourism destinations."
Torruco will be charged with executing promises made by Lopez Obrador during the campaign, including decentralizing institutions for the reactivation of the tourism industry, giving economic boost to Mayan areas and southern states, encouraging the investment of national and international private companies, aiming for greater and better connectivity between tourist zones and creating a police force for tourist centers.
Lydia Gregory contributed to this report.
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