When they think of Mexico, most people think of sun, sand, beaches, culture, the food, the ruins ….
I think tequila.
OK, not all the time. But I found it interesting that tequila would be such a strong selling point for travel agents here in Merida for the ASTA Destination Expo 2014. Not only was there a tequila tasting reception this week for attendees of the conference, the Jose Cuervo brand was one of the exhibitors at the trade show.
Given that the town of Tequila and the Jose Cuervo distillery are a 20-hour car ride from Merida - although I was game for it, since the town of Tabasco was also on the route - I was curious enough to ask Araceli Ramos, the public relations director for Jose Cuervo, why she was here. Did she feel out of place amongst traditional exhibitors like Starwood and Hyatt and Norwegian Cruise Lines, among others?
"Not at all," she said. "I have been working for this wonderful company for 19 years. All the travel agents that are here have a job to do, right? They have to go back where they are from and talk to their clients about coming to Merida, that Merida is a beautiful part of Mexico that they probably didn't know about, right? Well what is more Mexican than tequila?"
For those with a discerning palate, and for those whose knowledge of tequila doesn't extend past a hungover morning and the 'One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor' limerick, you should know there are many brands, different categories and different classes of tequila.
As much as she was pushing her Jose Cuervo brand, Ramos was an advocate for the idea of tequila as well.
"We need to let people know what tequila is all about - it's the national drink of Mexico," she said. "More than anything, what I wanted to bring to this event is the pride of the brand and the hard work that goes into making tequila. It's important to know it and share it. A lot of passion is behind this."
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