Mexico's Secretary of Tourism Miguel Torruco has confirmed the Tourism Promotion Council of Mexico (CPTM) will be dissolved and that resources used to fund tourism promotion abroad will instead be used to pay for construction of the Mayan train.
Moving forward, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be tasked with marketing Mexico to global travelers.
"I confirm the disappearance of the Council and of all the offices abroad...Now, 100 percent of the DNR will go towards the construction of the Mayan Train," Torruco confirmed in a press conference via El Financiero.
The changes under President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's new administration were announced late last month. Previously, fees international tourists paid upon entering Mexico via air travel funded tourism promotion. However, those resources will now be provided by the federal budget.
Torruco said the Magic Towns program will continue and that new programs such as Toca Puerta will be used to promote Mexico as a tourist destination.
The Mexican government and Quintana Roo officials recently approved a handful of mega-projects for 2019, including the first stage of the Mayan train between Cancun and Tulum on the Yucatan Peninsula.
The train is expected to cost between $6 billion and $8 billion.
Mexico is the world's sixth-most-visited destination and posted a nearly 7 percent increase in international tourist arrivals from January through September.
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