As we all know Spring Break is a little cash cow that once a year benefits mostly a select group of local Puerto Penasco businesses owners and the government coffers.
But I wonder how much better off RP would be if business leaders and community officials developed a comprehensive marketing strategy and concentrated their efforts targeting the approximately 70 million people living throughout the greater Southwestern USA?
I’ve often read what I believe to be bogus and self-serving ‘reports’, press releases, news articles, columns, etc. (many of them on some Penasco-specific websites) claiming things like ‘why, last year Puerto Penasco had 3 million visitors (or tourists)…’
Of course I have no ‘official’ numbers but common sense tells me that if half that number (1.5 Million) were correct then on any given day of the year-- all 365 of ‘em-- there would be about 4,110 fresh new smiling faces (‘visitors/tourists’) roaming the streets, shopping, dining, playing golf, frolicking on the beaches…
The fact of the matter is that for the majority of those 365 days a year in Penasco, mostly Sunday night through Friday afternoon, you could shoot a cannon down Calle 13 and it would be a real challenge to hit a ‘visitor’ (tourist) from elsewhere in Mexico or the USA.
Naturally there are those who oppose growth and want Penasco (the way it was or is now) all to themselves, but if Rocky Point is going to compete with all the other Mexican ‘flavors’ that are on the menu for sun seekers to choose from then ‘someone’ needs to lead the way and start looking at the ‘big-picture’!
Just imagine how the entire community (jobs, taxes, services, etc.) would benefit if those phantom 3 Million ‘visitors’ (tourists) really did travel to RP, stayed a (e.g.) week and spent (e.g.) $1,000 each…
With that kind of tourist and money flowing, this “once quaint little fishing village” could actually become a ‘player’ in the multi-billion dollar tourism industry in Mexico and our beloved Penasco could truly become a highly sought after Paraíso.
Viva México!
elgitanopenasco@gmail.com
