Children from the Montessori kindergarten in Ajijic, in Jalisco, Mexico, participate in a parade on the Day of the Mexican Revolution. Photo courtesy of Flickr/uteart

A First Call to Arms (Or Lack Thereof)

This colourful chapter of Mexico’s history began in 1810 with the Father of the Nation, Miguel Hidalgo, and his brigade. An ordained Catholic priest in the city of Dolores, Hidalgo had been promoting growth and prosperity for all his parishioners, even if it was through blacksmithing, weaving and pottery making. It was only logical that when the Father called for separation from Spanish rule, he found many followers. The actual independence uprising commenced on the dawn of September 16, 1810, with Hidalgo’s Grito de Dolores, a call to arms (or lack thereof) to several hundred followers. The first town captured was San Miguel. From there, five other towns were captured over the course of two weeks – all without military experience or equipment. The rest eventually followed. (What that says about the Spanish forces is a story for another time.)

A Second Call to Action

Nearly 100 years later, in 1908, after more than 30 years under the dictatorship-like rule of President Porfirio Díaz, Díaz himself once told an American journalist that he was ready for democracy in Mexico. He suggested that after him, succeeding presidents should be elected in a democratic manner. Two years later, in 1910, Díaz would have his match against lawyer Francisco Madero, which prompted to Diaz to have Madero imprisoned. Díaz announced himself the winner of the elections. As a second great call to action from the Mexican people, Madero wrote the Plan de San Luis Potosí to bring justice and peace to the country and state.

Mexicans have been anticipating the Mexico 2010 celebrations all year and in all places, even at the Rose Parade in January in Pasadena, California. Photo courtesy of Flickr/prayitno

The preamble of this now historic piece of literature states that “Peoples, in their constant efforts for the triumph of the ideal of liberty and justice, are forced, at precise historical moments, to make their greatest sacrifices. Our beloved country has reached one of those moments. A force of tyranny which we Mexicans were not accustomed to suffer after we won our independence oppresses us in such a manner that it has become intolerable.”

Madero’s call to action sparked a new fervor in Mexico that prompted great changes. The citizens of Mexico have celebrated Madero’s release of the Plan every year as a way of thanking the revolutionaries for their fight.

A Moment of Pride – ¡Viva Mexico!

“We love Mexico,” shared Karem Matamoros Olivares of Grayline Los Cabos, the whl.travel local connection in Los Cabos, Mexico . “There is not another sentence that defines better what we feel every time we wake up and see the sunrise painting warm colors on the sand, when we listen the mariachi at the plaza, when we discover the amazing landscapes while we explore our surroundings, when our hearts beat with emotion while we celebrate an important national date such as the Bicentennial.

” ‘You only can love what you know’ is a statement the bicentennial celebrations take seriously by creating events that depict our culture and our history, that exalt our Mexican pride. Everyone in Mexico has a special way to celebrate and show how much they care for our country: the musician sings our traditional songs; the artisan creates spectacular pieces; the dancer makes elegant moves to recreate our national dances. And us? We promote them all! We spread the word and encourage both visitors and locals to experience Mexico, make them know Mexico so they can love our country too.

At night the festive lights are in place on the main plaza of Cabo San Lucas on the eve of Mexico's Independence Day bicentennial

“During the month of September, Los Cabos has been the scene of several events celebrating this special date: concerts, plays, sports. It will all end with the celebration at the Plaza on September 15th, where people will gather around the square to listen to the big bells ring and unite their voices with one cry: ¡VIVA MEXICO!”

A Bicentennial and Centennial Year

Events commemorating Mexico’s Bicentennial Independence Day and the Centennial of the Revolution are scheduled to take place all over the country. The Bicentennial Office of the Instituto Nacional de Estudios Históricos de las Revoluciones de Mexico (National Institute of Historical Studies of the Mexican Revolutions) has designed six routes (three each) retracing the military campaigns of the revolution and independence. These details and more can be found in English on México 2010, the official website for both the Bicentennial and the Centennial celebrations.

Of course, for Mexicans not in Mexico, there are other festivities planned as far away as Chicago and Calgary, or as close to the Mexican border as Houston, Texas.

For live full coverage of the bicentennial Independence Day events in Mexico, tune into R@dio 2010.

For a whole lot more about life and travel in Mexico, including accommodation, tours, activities and events, your whl.travel local connections are real local experts in Cancun, Los Cabos,and Tequila.

Ever since the swine flu fright and the recent economic downturn experienced throughout the world, there has been a drastic drop in tourism to Mexico. But this doesn’t stop everyone. Mexico is still optimistic and thriving with the continuation of its beautiful colors, traditions and cultures.

Initiatives like La Ruta del Tequila and the public awareness of World Heritage Sites in Mexico have been able to release knowledge and understanding of the deep history Mexico holds. Another such project – Project:Exposure – has been piloted off in the fun and lively town of Tequila, Jalisco, Mexico. The team and I went to Tequila for a week for the project, which is hosted by WHL Consulting.

The courtyard of the Hacienda El Carmen, located between the towns of Teuchitlan and Ezetlan in Jalisco, Mexico

Add a little Mexican fun into the work mix and you’ve got an experiential travel story to tell the grandchildren. Experiencing local travel is the whole fun of traveling in the first place. What’s not to like about tacos al pastor and a few laughs with charros over palomas?

Sunday Funday

Sunday is no day for resting in Tequila, but for enjoying, eating, dancing and singing. The town’s center square is lined up front, back and side to side with street carts offering tacos of every variety. A local favorite, al pastor, similar to that of Greek gyros, is pork-based and mixed with a touch of pineapple. Add to that a touch of grilled onions and cilantro and you have pure satisfaction. Complete with a staged concert and a little bit of dancing, Sunday was a fun day for local activity.

Tequila?

Being what most people believe to be the birthplace of tequila (the drink), Tequila (the town), Jalisco, Mexico, is in no shortage of it. Even having your gas pumped at the local gas station prompts the question, “Excuse me, would you like some tequila?”

One night during the week, the team and I went to a local bar that we passed by during the day. Within minutes we were right in the middle of it all with the locals. Being the welcoming people Mexicans are, our local friends took us under their wing and guided us to the best tequila (most argued for Los Abuelos), to the full serviced delivery tacos (al pastor, of course), to the variety of drinks tequila is used in (which is absolutely everything, but my favorite was a paloma – grapefruit soda, splash of lime juice and white tequila).

There were even a couple of true charros in the house. The charros were champions in their day of charrería, the national sport of Mexico. These traditional Mexican horsemen won trophies in the Mexican rodeos and proudly told stories of successes and even failures.

Project:Exposure helps local, small accommodation providers do just as its name says: expose

Exposure Yourself

Project:Exposure has been launched by WHL Consulting as a program to help local small accommodation providers do just as its name says: expose. Tequila is more than just the ever-so-popular alcoholic beverage; it is also host to many local hotels with a traditional Mexican flair and contemporary accommodations.

What’s Involved

After an intensive market-readiness assessment, Project:Exposure determines each local hotel’s readiness for the international market and the tourists it brings along. For the market-ready and nearly-market-ready groups, an experienced market copywriter (my role) and photographer (represented by 360 Cities) chime in with a content collection segment to assemble the necessary pieces for presence on the Internet.

Inclusion in these two groups is determined by different focus rankings, such as the level of completion of the property, any available literature and the condition the property is in. With content collected, I was able to write the true story about these small and medium hotels surrounded by their contribution to their community, the environment and the betterment of the tourism industry in Mexico. Fortunately, we’ve partnered up with 360 Cities to provide these accommodations with completely spherical virtual tours that can be embedded in any website.

A Hacienda I’d Like to Call “Home”

Through this trip I’ve learned that Mexico really is full of the beautiful small hacienda hotels I imagined. What I had in mind were home-like hotels placed in the mountains with beautiful views, traditional Mexican décor with hardwood furniture, those little metal star lanterns and bright colors tastefully placed. These haciendas were just that and more.

An ancient ceremony at the Guachimontones ruins

The last night of the trip we stayed at Hacienda El Carmen in between the towns of Teuchitlan and Ezetlan. This amazing getaway is tucked in the mountains with a beautiful spa, gardens and rooms decorated with traditional Mexican motifs.

Mexico is full of activities and local travel experiences, too many to accomplish in one week. Thankfully I was able to experience an ancient ceremony at the Guachimontones ruins, have drinks and tacos with a champion Charro, tour a tequila distillery and have breakfast tortillas made fresh every morning by a woman who has been making them for years. With that, I can’t wait to go back.

Locals participate in the harvest of the blue agave, the key ingredient required for the production of tequila

A World Heritage Site is a place recongised by the World Heritage Centre, administered by UNESCO, with a significant cultural and physical importance. Tequila, Mexico is one of these places. WHL Consulting is working in Tequila with the Consejo Regulador del Tequila in support of La Ruta del Tequila to build the capacity of small and locally owned tourism products in and around the World Heritage Site of Tequila, Mexico, original source of the popular alcoholic beverage.

The team at WHL Consulting has created a program called Project:Exposure, which provides targeted assistance in support of small businesses at these heritage sites to be more competitive. The Tequila project is sponsored by the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) Sustainable Tourism Cluster, a program of the Inter-American Development Bank. It is a pilot program, future worldwide replication of which could be of particular importance to World Heritage Sites.

Project:Exposure

Project:Exposure aims to promote the online presence of locally owned and operated hotels and tour operators, developing new market opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises while placing great importance on supporting local resources.

Project:Exposure aims to provide enterprises with the tools and knowledge to successfully market themselves online

Project:Exposure provides small and medium enterprises with the tools and knowledge to successfully market themselves to the independent traveller online and become part of the online booking world. Subsequent to developing a complete audit of existing tourism products, the project includes development of photographs, professionally written content, marketing material and a completely spherical 360-degree immersive tour of a property. Participants in the project are also given the opportunity to view firsthand the benefits and effects of the project through Market Access Training seminars conducted by WHL Consulting on the dynamics and significance of the Internet and e-commerce tourism.

The project in Tequila marks yet another program run by WHL Consulting in a World Heritage Site. WHL Consulting is part of the WHL Group, which had its beginnings as an IFC project (part of the World Bank Group) in Siem Reap, Cambodia. WHL Consulting has gone on to complete precursor Project:Exposure work in the Serengeti and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

The team at WHL Consulting are confident that the current four Project:Exposure pilot programs being run in World Heritage sites are going to be huge successes. In addition to Tequila, Mexico, Project:Exposure is at work in the Drakensburg and iSimangaliso in South Africa, and Ouro Preto, Brazil. WHL Consulting hopes to continue their support of building the capacity of small businesses in and around World Heritage Sites in the years to come.