A Positive Article from MSM

"Mexico looks for rebound in U.S. tourists"

"After a few years in which drug-fueled violence prompted many Americans to think twice about traveling to Mexico, a rebound in U.S. tourists could be on the horizon.

“We are very optimistic about 2012,” said Rodolfo Lopez Negrete, chief operating officer of the Mexico Tourism Board. “We’re forecasting an increase of 10 percent from the U.S. market.”

That would represent a significant change from 2011, in which arrivals from the U.S. are estimated to have fallen 3 percent from the 11.9 million travelers who flew in from U.S. cities or arrived via U.S.-based cruise ships in 2010.....................................

http://itineraries.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/07/10344831-mexico-looks-for-rebound-in-us-tourists

And 2010 sucked. Resturants are still hurting not as bad but still hurting.
This rain this morning and maybe for a day or two is going to kill the
chili cook off.

Z

I feel so badly for all the people who worked so hard to put on the Chili Cookoff. I know some of them, and their investment of time and money is really going to hurt them..

Hey: RAINGODS; are you listening? Cool it till Monday, okay??? Please?

NOT ONE customer was in the new posada sunday @3. only a few on patio. entire inside empty. tango had a 4 hour wait for for a table, @that same time.

susan wrote:NOT ONE customer was in the new posada sunday @3. only a few on patio. entire inside empty. tango had a 4 hour wait for for a table, @that same time.

I’m sorry but I know of no one that would wait four hours for lunch, dinner etc. I’m feeling you may exaggerate to make a point. Why?

susan wrote:NOT ONE customer was in the new posada sunday @3. only a few on patio. entire inside empty. tango had a 4 hour wait for for a table, @that same time.

Tango is really the only very healthy (economic) reasturant around here. Always safe to eat at Tango is the opinion of lots and lots of people.
They do well very well. I can't think of another resturant that does the business for lunch and dinner that Tango does.

Z

More positive news out of Mexico's Tourism Office:
"The Secretary of Tourism reported that the number of domestic and foreign tourists in the country last year hit a record, to reach nearly 190 million visitors, a figure 3.7% higher than that achieved a year earlier. Of this total Sectur and Bank of Mexico accounted for 22.67 million international tourists, which means an annual increase of 2%, to settle at the highest level on record.....................

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eluniversal.com.mx%2Fnotas%2F829757.html

Zedinmexico wrote:

susan wrote:NOT ONE customer was in the new posada sunday @3. only a few on patio. entire inside empty. tango had a 4 hour wait for for a table, @that same time.

Tango is really the only very healthy (economic) reasturant around here. Always safe to eat at Tango is the opinion of lots and lots of people.
They do well very well. I can't think of another resturant that does the business for lunch and dinner that Tango does.

Z

"Tango is really the only very healthy (economic) reasturant around here."

Slight exaggeration there? Six of us had an early dinner at Roberto's after the Lip Sync matinee. The place is huge, and the dining rooms were nearly full. The menu for Sunday dinner "Chinese style" was 85 pesos, which included soup and egg rolls as well as many dinner choices. For those who wanted something else, a fish dinner was 100 pesos: steak 120, including the usual sides. So ....I'd say that's economical. Never been sick from their meals, either.

The Nueva Posada has been slipping for a while. IMO, the prices are not justified by the quality of the food. Tango's is fine, especially for the red meat crowd and they are consistent, with good service as well, so it's not surprising that they are doing well.

As far as the opinion quoted from "susan", it's typical. If anyone is willing to wait four hours for dinner, they obviously aren't hungry. LOL.

The fact that the deplorably mediocre Tango does the business it does is less an accolade to the accomplishments of its staff than a measurement of the naivete of its redneck clientele. In the land of no taste everything tastes better than it did back in Moline.

I have been spending a lot of time at the coast lately and the figures for tourism cited in the articles seem like a gross exaggeration. Tourism in Barra de Navidad is the slowest I have seen it in many years. And that is what I hear from people I know that live and work in Vallarta also.

Just had some friends come back from the Mayan Riviera and they said it was quieter than normal......

gringal wrote:

Zedinmexico wrote:

susan wrote:NOT ONE customer was in the new posada sunday @3. only a few on patio. entire inside empty. tango had a 4 hour wait for for a table, @that same time.

Tango is really the only very healthy (economic) reasturant around here. Always safe to eat at Tango is the opinion of lots and lots of people.
They do well very well. I can't think of another resturant that does the business for lunch and dinner that Tango does.

Z

"Tango is really the only very healthy (economic) reasturant around here."

Slight exaggeration there? Six of us had an early dinner at Roberto's after the Lip Sync matinee. The place is huge, and the dining rooms were nearly full. The menu for Sunday dinner "Chinese style" was 85 pesos, which included soup and egg rolls as well as many dinner choices. For those who wanted something else, a fish dinner was 100 pesos: steak 120, including the usual sides. So ....I'd say that's economical. Never been sick from their meals, either.

The Nueva Posada has been slipping for a while. IMO, the prices are not justified by the quality of the food. Tango's is fine, especially for the red meat crowd and they are consistent, with good service as well, so it's not surprising that they are doing well.

As far as the opinion quoted from "susan", it's typical. If anyone is willing to wait four hours for dinner, they obviously aren't hungry. LOL.

Please note you left out my comment that said for LUNCH and DINNER and frankly nobody packs em in like Tango does day after day from opening to close. I do not doubt
other resturants are doing well. I said very well. I like Roberto's also but we walk and frankly walking along the carratera is dangerous at night so we don't go as often
as we would like to. I would bet anyone here (if I was Romney I could bet 10,000USD :-) that Tango has the highest revenues of any place in Ajijic area.

Z

Solovino wrote:I have been spending a lot of time at the coast lately and the figures for tourism cited in the articles seem like a gross exaggeration. Tourism in Barra de Navidad is the slowest I have seen it in many years. And that is what I hear from people I know that live and work in Vallarta also.

When we left Mazatlan to come back to Ajijic with a load of our gringo stuff we gassed up at a pemex oxxo station and the attendant looked at us and said where are all
you folks people are starving here. He was serious. We talked to him for a while and explained the media NOB and how it is scarying people and than I told him that cars
are being searched when leaving the US now and they just about pulled a gun on me for no reason its no wonder no one is around. This was December 11. Really made
us think about what is going on. By the way on the drive down in mexico got two red lights at the customs places and was waved through both times which was very
different when I came down a couple of months earlier. Me thinks the mexican government has told the folks to be nice to the Gringoes or something. It was like I was
a VIP or something comparing both trips and the first trip was not bad either.

Z

No nitpicking intended, Zed. We all know that Tango's packs 'em in.
We eat there often, but seldom have steak. Their barbequed chicken is outstanding.

Yves is another walking distance lunch and dinner destination we like. They are smaller, but getting so popular that reservations for weekends are a must now. Prices reasonable. We don't go for the salad bar anywhere, though.

I don't like to cross the carretera on foot either. We were waiting (in the car) on the side street for the light to turn green Sunday and considerably after it did, a car flew right through the red light at high speed. Not unusual, either. Pedestrians; good luck.

And from today's USA TODAY is a Mexico Guide for Wimps:
http://travel.usatoday.com/destinations/story/2012-02-16/Mexico-for-wimps-A-guide-to-safe-popular-travel-spots/53123854/1

The Dawg and his lovely bride, Brigitte may have their southern oasis disturbed since it is on the list!