Friday, March 9, 2012

¡El pez que huyó de Peñasco!

-by El Gitano Peñasco, "The Peñasco Gypsy"

And we’re off and running once again with more of those charming travel warnings distributed by the U.S. State department warning vacationers, travelers and Spring Breakers etc. to watch out for ‘Mexico’ and Peñasco, as if it is safer to travel to and vacation in, for example, Los Angles, California!

This is the 3rd year in a row that the U.S. State Department and other U.S. State governments have issued their cautions and although we’ll still get a slice of the (current) Spring Break pesos and some businesses here will fill their bank accounts to the brim, the fact of the matter is that as a ‘turista’ destination, we are letting the big fish get away to other places in Mexico.

Unlike Peñasco, regions like Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, the Baja, Cancun, Cozumel, etc. have their ¡Bienvenida! sign everywhere online, in the travel sections of major newspapers, etc., in order to counter the bad press. They are inviting travelers to ‘come on down’, have a great and safe time!

But no, not us! Even with Spring Break cancellations coming in we’ll have none of that ‘public’ promotional ‘stuff’! And unless I missed it we still can’t even get a fricken LED Video Bill Board with stunning scenes of the Sea of Cortez that I’ve advocated for years up around the interchange in the USA at I-8 and 85 in Arizona.

You know, to announce to the tens of millions of yearly drivers (travelers, vacationing families, ‘truckers’ etc.) who are bored to death driving that stretch of desert and who ‘cross’ that intersection and every single day, 24/7/365; that they’ll discover, to their surpise, ¡Paraíso! and the beautiful Sea of Cortez is just a few more miles ‘that-a-way’ <<< >>> (one billboard for east bound and one for the west bound travelers)!

Sure, most travelers won’t change their plans and hang an immediate right (or left) and come on down. But I’ll guarantee you those weary and bored travelers coming up on that LED Video Billboard will pay 100% attention and say things to one another such as “…maybe we ought to check that out…” or “…didn’t know we were that close to the Sea of Cortez…” or “…Peñasco (or Rocky Point)? Never heard of it but when we get to the motel in Gila Bend (or whereever) let’s get online and see whatzup…”

Advertise and promote all the time folks! That’s my motto; and It Works!

A Gypsy can always dream!

¡Viva Puerto Peñasco y México!

Gypsy

elgitanopenasco@gmail.com

Awaken your inner beachbum
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. -Mark Twain