UNWTO Launches The First Shopping Tourism Pilot Project in Leon Mexico

The project was launched by UNWTO on November 28, 2019, in Leon city that is located in Mexico’s Guanajuato state. Local municipality and UNWTO band together in this project to strengthen the economy, provide employment to the local people and create a sustainable and inclusive development model.

The Leon Project came to fruition after more than one-year cooperation between the Municipality of Leon and the United Nations specialized agency, with the support of the Ministry of Tourism of the Province of Guanajuato.

Topics covered by the project;

• To increase the number of visitors

• To create new tourism products

• Effective use of tourism attraction centers

• To increase infrastructure quality

Representatives from the tourism, trade and design sectors, along with public and government representatives, held 65 meetings to identify and create initiatives. As a result, 10 of the 21 initiatives determined according to the Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs) criteria were selected.

It was determined that 27% of the visitors who chose the destination Leon came to the city to shop especially for leather. With this project, Leon, with the support of UNWTO, has set itself the top spot in shopping tourism. At the same time, with the integration of companies from different fields (tradesmen, agriculture, leather, shoes, design, automotive and others), it aims to create tourism products with a higher value. With this integration, tourism and trade centers in Leon and its surroundings will form a value chain and this chain will be supported and encouraged by public policies.

Source: https://www.unwto.org/first-shopping-tourism-pilot-project-mexico

Author: Erdal Boyraz @eeboyraz 
Translate: Görkem Semerci @gorkemsem