ConvenZIHdo Que Podemos Hacer Mejor

https://youtu.be/AGXvthw8Pvs

With the slowest season of the year now in full force, locals attend to matters they've not had time for during the rest of the year. Sometimes it's simply relaxing and doing nothing, or taking a vacation, or getting their annual checkup, or visiting local friends and places they haven't seen for a while. But for too many locals it's the end of a dream, and they're closing their businesses for the last time and either moving on or looking for work elsewhere. A damn shame. I know we can do better.

The summer season, like the high season, has been increasingly disappointing year after year since (a) the Zona Hotelera I has been allowed to offer only all-included packages instead of European or American Plans or some other vacation package NOT all-included, (b) the Blue Flag program was imposed essentially running off visitors who travel with their pets and who make up a larger sector of the tourism market each year, enough that our community can't afford to be losing them, and (c) cruise ships have basically stopped coming. The local government talks a lot but has done nothing other than sell cement and put on parties and extravaganzas that don't translate into an increase of visitors with the high purchasing power we need. Too many of our so-called tourism experts seem to totally ignore that Zihuatanejo has historically filled a crucial niche for visitors who choose us precisely because Zihuatanejo isn't like Cancún, Vallarta, Los Cabos or Acapulco. Instead, these "experts" pretend we're in competition for the same people as those other destinations, and they continue turning Zihuatanejo into a Disneylandish caricature of itself. Now we actually promote a monument to corruption as a tourist attraction along with silly road to nowhere. Our main visitors continue being bus passengers with very low purchasing power who would be just as happy at ANY beachfront destination and all-included hotel guests who hardly leave the hotel property who, like the bus visitors, represent a minor benefit at best to the local economy. I know we can do better. But we need a real change of attitude especially in our local government to tackle these local problems and promote Zihuatanejo and the region intelligently to a targeted market instead of trying to mass market ourselves. Ixtapa's hotels squandered the benefits of mass marketing by going exclusively all-included and killing off the prosperity they used to provide especially to Ixtapa's shopping centers but also to Zihuatanejo. The local government continues using #ThisIZit as a marketing slogan even though I've explained to them numerous times that it sounds like they're promoting acne, not a tropical paradise. Either they're playing stupid or they're being stubborn and they just don't care. I suspect the latter, because they live off the public dole, not tourism.

I'm not giving up! As long as tourism remains our only economy, I'll continue to seek the visitors Zihuatanejo needs, not just warm bodies to run up the numbers and provide cifras alegres for politicians and bureaucrats to play make-believe with. And you can help simply by telling your friends and family about us.

Looking for an idyllic lodging in a tranquil setting within easy walking distance of the village at Barra de Potosí? Check out Villa Don Manuel. A bed and breakfast inn offering six comfortable one-bedroom bungalows located in a coconut grove across the road from the beach of Playa Blanca in Barra de Potosí just south of Zihuatanejo. Amenities include mini-fridge and pool.
Zihuatanejo Hotels

Un otro típico día hermoso en Playa Principal en la bahía de Zihuatanejo.