Press Releases

Mayor’s Office Press Launch

March 28, 2022 — Mayor Sylvester Turner, Houston Initial Corp., and the Larger Houston Partnership will guide an economic growth mission to Mexico from March 28 to April 1, with stops in Monterrey and Mexico City.

The delegation is joined by strategic associates, Houston Airport Procedure and United Airlines, as component of an aggressive method to strengthen Houston’s place as the top city for world trade, tourism, enterprise, and leisure vacation from Mexico.

As section of the activations, the delegation and strategic associates will be meeting with the Mexican secretary of tourism, Gov. Samuel Alejandro Garcia Sepúlveda of Nuevo León, Mayor Donaldo Colosio Riojas of Monterrey, vice-minister of foreign affairs, Roberto Velasco, as perfectly as top rated tour/travel operators and conference industry experts.

Members of the delegation also will be participating in the signing of a Memorandum of Knowing or MOU to reinforce existing ties concerning the Point out of Nuevo León and town of Houston.

“Houston continuously ranks among the top rated markets for worldwide companies on the lookout to create or reinforce ties in the U.S. With an active port, a gifted and varied workforce, and continued improvement in sectors these as health care, everyday living sciences, and know-how, the City is a hub for innovation and progress. We look forward to strengthening our ties with Mexico and emphasizing Houston’s global posture as a primary location for organization and business,” Mayor Turner claimed.

Serving as Houston’s biggest trade husband or wife, Mexico performs an crucial purpose in the city’s overall economy. In spots such as producing and meals items, both of those Mexico and Texas have made this kind of an economic focus in those sectors that quite a few Mexico-primarily based corporations have been led to open amenities in the Lone Star Point out, according to The Texas Financial Development Corporation.

“We are fortunate to are living in a destination where by citizens from all across the globe populate the town. As we glimpse to sustainably enhance the amount of visitors from Mexico to Houston, the influx of new ideas and affect will only boost the unbelievable tapestry of cultures that now exists here,” Houston Initially Corp. President and CEO Michael Heckman said.

Mexico also is Houston’s biggest current market for global visitation. According to a 2020 Vacation Advertising and marketing Insights Inc. report, Houston acquired an believed 3.4 million worldwide tourists, with Mexico accounting for 70 % of people people. The report also indicated that Mexican people contributed $913 million USD in overall immediate paying out whilst checking out Houston. (supply: Journey Marketplaces Insights Inc. July 2020).

“Houston Airports’ presently-strong relationship with Mexico grew even more powerful all through the pandemic,” Director of Houston Airports Mario Diaz stated. “Today we have a lot more flights to Mexico than in 2019 and Bush Airport carries on to provide much more flights to Mexico than any other airport in the U.S. Houston is a single of the main markets in the U.S. by the range of Mexican places served and the number of Mexican visitors acquired for every calendar year. This economic enhancement mission will nurture our strategic partnership with Mexico that is vital for our airports and our metropolis.”

Investigate by Expedia World wide Research displays that Houston ranked #1 among U.S. towns booked through the 1st quarter in 2021. Greater level of competition in the current market, nevertheless, has afflicted searches for 2022 and creating brand awareness for Houston in Mexico will be key to driving regular curiosity back to pre-covid stages.

“With far more than 70 many years of services to the southeast Texas location, United is proud to be Houston’s hometown airline,” United Airlines Senior Vice President of Around the world Profits Doreen Burse claimed. “As the country’s gateway to Latin America and Houston’s major carrier to Mexico, serving the market place for over five many years, we are honored to have played a important part in arranging vacation for the city’s trade mission to Mexico – helping to connect Houston to the world, and the earth to Houston.”

Houston Week  
Strengthening Houston’s place as a major vacation spot for enterprise, travel and tourism will be the creation of a multi-town market activation acknowledged as “Houston Week.” The inaugural celebration incorporates a myriad of diplomatic and community relations attempts, enterprise enhancement, company and journey trade conferences, as well as social activations ahead of culminating into an experiential night function that showcases the extremely finest of Houston.

Hola Houston 
The hallmark of Houston Week will be “Hola Houston” a dynamic sensory and culinary encounter curated to reintroduce and excite attendees about all things Houston.

Having position inside Zanq on March 29 in the Valle Oriente spot in San Pedro Garza García in Nuevo León, and later that week on March 31 at Centro Cultural Estacion Indianilla in Mexico City, invited visitors will have an chance to have interaction with some of Houston’s most legendary artists, designers, mixologists, and James Beard award-winning cooks. This dynamic showcase incorporates:

Culinary 

• Chef Hugo Ortega: Proprietor and executive chef of 4 of Houston’s best dining places, including Backstreet Café, URBE, and Caracol. He has been named Greatest Chef: Southwest by the prestigious James Beard Foundation.
• Chef Ruben Ortega: Pastry chef for the H-City Restaurant Group. His decadent creations at Xochi in Houston gained him a place as a 2022 semifinalist for Fantastic Pastry Chef by the James Beard Foundation.
• Chef Kiran Verma: Acknowledged as the “godmother of Indian great eating,” Chef Kiran’s cafe is known for serving up Indian hospitality with French sophistication and American informality.
• Chef Chris Williams: Earning several accolades for his Southern-design and style delicacies, Chef Chris carries on to use influences from throughout the globe to curate his menu at Lucille’s.
• Mixologist Chris Morrisis a 4-time nationwide finalist of esteemed cocktail competitions and acquired many regional awards. His inventive interpretation of the basic paloma at Chef Nikki Tran’s Viet-Cajun restaurant Kau Ba is the fantastic case in point of Houston’s blended society.

Leisure

• Demola the Violinist: A indigenous Lagosian turned Houstonian is an artist, songwriter, producer and renowned violinist who brings together Afrobeats, pop, hip-hop and Reggae into thrilling fusion covers. His performances have been featured throughout the 2021 Point out of the Town in Houston and James Beard Awards software.

Art + Style

• Magpies and Peacocks: Situated in the coronary heart of Houston, this is the only nonprofit American structure home devoted to the assortment and sustainable reuse of submit-purchaser apparel, scrap textiles, and extras diverted from landfills.
• David Maldonado: Recognized as @capdavjon on Instagram, David is a Houston-primarily based multi-disciplinary artist who celebrates the vivid tales of his community by way of community art. His eye-catching pieces can be noticed in neighborhoods and important properties through the city.

Next the debut of Houston Week, Houston To start with Corp. will deploy a countrywide marketing and advertising and branding marketing campaign in Mexico that will be featured in publications this kind of as Forbes, Robb Report, GQ, Vouge, Conde Nast, Reforma, Food items & Wine, Existence & Type and Expedia, amid many others.

“Our marketing campaign imaginative, ‘Vibra World Que Inspira’ offers a unified brand proposition for tourism, financial growth, financial investment attraction, expertise attraction and high-quality of lifetime that celebrates the authenticity and enchantment of our fantastic town,” provides Mr. Heckman.

Later this 12 months, Houston also will put together to launch its to start with U.S.-Mexico Travel Fest, a weekend celebration hosted within the city’s George R. Brown Conference Center on Oct. 28-30. The party will welcome much more than 35 places from Mexico and the U.S. and practically 20,000 people who are searching for their subsequent holiday.