Five Mexican states have banned together to form a regional tourism board to promote the destination to overseas travellers.

The move comes after the national government withdrew US$300 million in funding for the Mexico Tourism Board last year, causing the body to virtually cease operations.

The secretaries of tourism of the states that make up the Mundo Maya region – including Yucatán, Quintana Roo, Chiapas, Tabasco and Campeche – signed the partnership earlier.

It is designed to strengthen tourism and promote social integration, and contribute to better economic conditions for the inhabitants of the region.

The actions of the alliance will actively involve the communities, so that the management of their resources for tourism activities are sustainable.

To accomplish this, the communities will take seminars and trainings about development and consolidation of tourism products, customer care and service for different tourism products such as: leisure, culture, ecotourism and adventure, diving, cruises and business.

One of the first actions of this alliance, will be the training of the companies involved in the tourism industry that generate trips and experiences, to help the recovery of the tourist activity that has been affected by the current health contingency caused by the Covid-19.

José Antonio Nieves, secretary of tourism of Tabasco pointed out that the five states have been working intensively to achieve this agreement “which is an instrument that allows us to collaborate on many subjects, as well as coordinating mutually beneficial actions where Tabasco contributes with differentiating projects such as Ríos Mayas, a tourist product that is linked to the great national project of the Mayan Train.”

Each of the tourism secretaries endorsed their commitment to strengthening the tourism sector in the southeast region of the country.