Alex Zozaya, CEO of Apple Leisure Group, received the Reportur Award at FITUR, an international tourism trade fair, taking place January 17-21 in Madrid.
Enrique de la Madrid, Secretary of Tourism of Mexico, presented the award to Zozaya.
In presenting the award, de la Madrid praised FITUR for bringing together industry executives and referred to Zozaya as "a businessman of avant-garde and vision," noting that the CEO was "feeding back" the tourism sector in Mexico, according to a report in Reportur.
In his acceptance address, Zozaya, thanked Grupo Preferente, publisher of Reportur, for the honor, noting the invaluable work the paper (Reportur) does for tourism.
The crowd honoring the CEO included the presidents of Melia Hotels International, Gabriel Escarrer Julia and Gabriel Escarrer Jaume, Simon Pedro Barcelo, co-president of the Barcelo Group, Miguel Fluxa and Sabina Fluxa, president and vice president of Iberostar and the Pinero sisters, leaders of the Pinero Group.
Many hoteliers from the Caribbean and Mexico were also on hand, including executives from Valentin Hoteles, BlueBay, NH and the Punta Cana Group. Tourism ministers from Spain, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic and the president of Iberia and the CEO of Gowaii Group were also in attendance.
In other remarks made by Zozaya at FITUR, he discussed falling rates at Mexico hotels, noting that the updated U.S. Travel Alert should lead to a recovery of hotel reservations and a boost in rates in the coming months.
Executive vice president and chief strategy officer of ALG, Javier Coll, noted recently "the Caribbean and Mexico are the cornerstones of [ALG's] growth strategy and with growth close to 27 percent in the figure of hotels under construction in the region, this represents an unprecedented opportunity."
Despite a decline in room rates-or maybe because of them-Mexico has experienced unprecedented growth over the last year. The arrival of international tourists increased 12.3 percent to 28.6 million from January to September of 2017. Visitors spent big, too, with more than $16 billion in expenditures.
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