By Greg Hazley
Mexico's Committee of Tourism and Conventions for the image-tarnished Mexican State of Baja California has hired Allison & Partners to lead a six-figure tourism PR campaign starting this month.
Drug cartel-fueled violence has shaken the region as 28,000 people have been killed since late 2006.
Allison & Partners, part of MDC Partners, will handle media monitoring and crisis response, as well as proactive media relations with support from San Diego-based research and consulting firm Crossborder Group, which has a Mexico outpost.
Weddings, medical tourism and outreach to students are among topics to be pitched.
Most of the $300K PR budget is being funded by Tijuana's convention and tourism entity. Rosarito and Ensenda are other outposts in Baja that are part of the push.
APCO Worldwide inked a $1.4M deal with Mexico's tourism board last year to gauge perceptions of the country and handle "rapid response media relations." Qorvis Communications also had a $330K, one-year contract with the tourism board for an online PR program.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Crossborder Group will contact universities, chambers of commerce and other groups in the U.S. to work to cancel travel advisories to Mexico and support tourism.
Another $100K has been allocated to pay for journalists' travel and $100K will go to social media.
In June, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said he would launch an integral publicity project” to include the hiring of a PR firm to burnish the country's image and fight the perception that it is losing an ongoing fight with drug lords.
Reuters reported Sept. 1 that Mexico's finance minister believes the violence has sliced 1.2% off the country's GDP growth.
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