Case: Tourism Mexico City Application of SMED Recommendations

On September 25th the World Centre of Excellence for Destinations (CED) delivered a certificate of recognition to the Minister of Tourism of Mexico City Mr. Alejandro Rojas Díaz-Durán for the accomplishment of 75% of the recommendations suggested in the official report of the System of Measures for Excellence in Destinations (SMED) to that city in 2008.

During the ceremony of delivery within the “Feria Internacional de Turismo de las Américas” FITA, Mr. André Vallerand, Special Advisor to the Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), emphasized the work accomplished by the Minister of Tourism, Mr. Alejandro Rojas, who has positioned the City as the first tourism destination in Mexico, even though hard episodes like the H1N1 crisis in 2009.

“The Ministry attracted during the last four years more international tourists through its great infrastructure, traditions, culture, archaeology and specially the friendliness of Mexico City´s inhabitants” Added André Vallerand. “The capital of Mexico was the first urban destination worldwide to be evaluated by the CED and ever since the team of the Ministry of Tourism began with the application of the recommendations contained in the SMED report, this is the reason why the City obtained this recognition” concluded Mr. André Vallerand.

“We asked to be evaluated three years ago, the methodology of evaluation makes a deep analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the destinations and finally gives a number of recommendations. The perfect example is that in 2008 CED recommended to create an international tourism event, after working in the conception and organization, FITA was finally launched in 2010” Declared Mr. Alejandro Rojas, Minister of Tourism of Mexico City.

The SMED is an evaluation tool developed by the CED that aims to identify the different levels of performance of a tourist destination, propose recommendations for improvement and increased competitiveness, and facilitate the integration of the destination in an international network of tourist destinations of excellence.

 About the CED

With its headquarters located in Montréal, the CED began operations in February 2007. The CED is a non-profit organization dedicated to the research and creation of tools to support the development of sustainable tourism for destinations around the world. The CED was created with the support of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the National Geographic Society. For further information, please visit the CED website at: www.ced.travel

Source: www.ced.travel

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Manolis Psarros, Managing Director of abouTourism international destination consultancy, acts as a country representative for the World Centre of Excellence for Destinations (CED), in Greece, and is a System of Measures for Excellence in Destinations (SMED) expert.

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