Mexico: Tourist Board Info

Mexico’s federal tourism promotion is handled by theSecretaría de Turismo de México (SECTUR).  There are many other local, state and regional tourism authorities

Mexico [1] (officially: the United Mexican States) is a country in North America, lying between the United States of America to the north, andGuatemala and Belize to the southeast. Its extensive coastlines include the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Mexico has nice and warm people, unique food, art and archeology, pyramids, museums, Haciendas, 6,000 miles of shoreline, superb architecture and 21 century cities, weather from snow mountains in the Sierras, to rainy jungles in the Southeast and desert in the Northwest, lots of golf courses throughout the country, excellent fishing, world top destinations like Acapulco, Cancun, Cozumel, Los Cabos, and Patzcuaro. Mexico is ranked 7th major destination for foreigner visitors, according to WTO.

Mexico is one of the most popular tourist countries on earth (over 20 million foreign visitors last year). Much of the tourist industry is centered around the beach resorts as well as the altiplano in the central part of the country. Visiting the northern interior allows visitors to get off the beaten path a bit. American tourists tend to predominate on the Baja peninsula and the more modernized beach resorts (Cancun, Puerto Vallarta), while European tourists congegrate around the smaller resort areas in the south like Playa del Carmen and colonial towns San Cristobal de las Casas.

Pharmacies and Medical Attention

If you have a minor health need, the ‘primera clase’ (first-class) pharmacies (“farmacia”) in Mexico are staffed with trained pharmacists. Staffing in other pharmacies may be handled by lesser-trained personnel, but in most instances all pharmacy employees will be helpful to tourists and if necessary they or a pharmacist will be able to assist you in locating a physician, dentist, or other medical specialist.  Your home-country consulate in Mexico typically maintains a list of medical personnel to whom they refer nationals of that particular country and you may wish to consult the consular office for a recommendation, also.  Pharmacy and medical personnel in many parts of Mexico may lack foreign language skills, however, so use your phrasebook or dictionary to help communicate.

Tequila

Tequila is the national drink of Mexico.  It comes in three grades, joven, reposado, and añejo.  Joven is young, or raw, and is used  basically in cocktails.  Reposado is aged, and is the most popular tequila among sippers, usually with a slice of lemon or lime and salt.  Sippers also like “sangrita”, a mixture of tomato juice, orange jucie and condiments, one sip of tequila and then a sip of sangrita.

Añejo is well aged, or old, and is the smoothest and most expensive on the market.  All tequila is made from the blue agave plant and distilled in the town of Tequila, or nearby in the state of Jalisco.  If the bottle does not state 100% agave (or blue agave) on the label, the tequila has been cut with cane alcohol.  Do not look for a worm in a bottle of tequila.

Mezcal is another libation made from the agave cactus.  Most of it comes from the state of Oaxaca in Southern Mexico, and has a taste quite different from tequila.  Some is cured in clay pots and has an earthy taste.  Look for the worm in the bottle.

Destilado de Agave is a drink very similar to tequila, but is brewed outside the state of Jalisco.  As with tequila, it may or may not be made with 100% agave.  The label will tell.  Generally, destilado de agave is much less expensive than tequila.

By plane

-from US or Canada – Most commercial airlines link Mexico directly to US or Canada. It is always worth to compare flight offers from aircarriers who can bring you to Mexico City or Cancun.

-from Australia- As of Feb 11 2010 the cheapest way to get from Australia to Mexico is by flying V-Australia from either Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne direct to Los Angeles. Then fly Mexicana to your desired destination in Mexico.

-from Europe- Most commercial airlines link Mexico directly to Europe. It is always worth to compare flight offers from aircarriers who can bring you to Mexico City or Cancun via many european hubs, like Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid…..the flight duration from those cities is always approx. 11 hours (+ your connecting flight from home, if you do not board directly at the mentioned airports)

Visa Requirements

According to the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores), certain foreign nationals who intend to stay in México fewer than 180 days for the purpose of tourism or 30 days for business can fill out a tourist card (FMT) at the border or upon landing at an airport for a nominal fee (approx US$22) and presenting a valid passport. This service is available to citizens of Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Island, Israel, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, Uruguay and Venezuela.

If you cross the border via road do not expect the authorities to automatically signal you to fill out your paperwork. You will have to locate the border office yourself.

Other people must contact a Mexican consulate in order to find out the requirements for citizens of their country, and may have to apply for and obtain a visa in advance of travel. If you are in need of other information, Mexico has diplomatic offices in the following cities around the world: [3]. The consulates in the USA are typically open for business to non-citizens (by telephone or in-person) only from 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM.

The immigration officer at your point of entry into Mexico can also request that you demonstrate that you have sufficient economic solvency and a round trip ticket.

Buy

• Weights are measured in kilograms. Length is measured in centimeters and meters.

• For clothes and shoe sizes, the “Continental” measurements are used.

The currency of Mexico is the peso (MXN), divided into 100 centavos. Coins are issued in 5 , 10 (steel), 20, 50 centavo (brass) and 1, 2, 5 (steel ring, brass center), 10, 20, 50, and 100 peso (brass ring, steel or silver center) denominations, but it’s extremely rare to find coins valued at more than 10 pesos or less than 50 centavos. Banknotes are produced in 20 (blue), 50 (pink-red), 100 (red), 200 (green), 500 (brown), and 1000 peso (purple and pink for the latest issue, purple for older issues) denominations. The most recent 20- and 50-peso bills are made from polymer plastic, and there are several different series of 20-, 50-, 200-, and 1000-peso notes.

Do not accept old pesos (issued before 1993): they are practically worthless.

The symbol for pesos is the same as for US dollars, which can be slightly confusing. Prices in dollars (in tourist areas) are labeled “US$” or sport an S with a double stroke. As of August 09 the exchange rate hovers around $13 MXN to $1 USD. As this exchange rate has typically hovered around $10 MXN to $1 USD, vendors and merchants will often use this rate of exchange. Thus it is currently better to purchase with MXN pesos. US dollars are widely accepted in the far north and in tourist locales elsewhere.

Euros are generally not accepted by merchants, and even banks headquartered in Europe may refuse to accept euros for exchange. On the other side, most banks and exchange offices (“casas de cambio”) will widely accept them.

If you have brought cash in USD or EUR, best places to change your money are at arrival airport (e.g. MEX and CUN), where many money exchanges are located already in the arrival hall – here you also can compare some exchange rates and choose the most convenient – normally, at airports, the exchange rate is on a very fair level. If you wanted to wait with the exchange for later, try to avoid to change at your hotel, as the rates there are an extreme disadvantage for the tourist. Often, you can find money exchanges at strategic places in most touristic destinations and near the hotel (zones). The exchanges rates should not differ drastically from the ones at airport. If you are not familiarised with mexican money (bills, coins), try to stick to these mentioned official exchange places. In some popular internationally visited beach destinations like Cancun, Los Cabos and similar, local merchants are very used to deal with US-Dollars, and it often accept them as payment. Try always to bare in mind, that “private” money exchange usually comes along with a slightly unfavorable exchange rate.

Credit and Debit Cards (with Maestro or MC/VISA affiliation) are widely accepted in Mexico. You can use them at ATM’s as well as in most department stores, bigger restaurants, gas stations………be sure, that in Mexico’s province you always carry sufficient cash in Mex.Pesos in your pocket, and generally verify the possibility to pay with card before consumption. Smaller (often family run) business often only accepts cash.

While many Pemex stations accept credit cards, especially in locations that have heavy tourist traffic, some do not; travelers who intend to pay by credit card should ask the attendant if the card is accepted before pumping begins.

ATMs are easy to come by. Bank of America customers can avoid ATM fees by using Santander Serfin ATMs. Other banks may have similar policies, check with your respective institution. Otherwise, do not be surprised to find yourself with a fee for each withdrawal. ATMs in smaller towns can run out of currency; sometimes this is a regular occurrence. Check with the bank (or locals) about the best time to use the ATM and don’t wait until the very last minute to get cash.

Merchants can be picky about the state of your paper money, they may scrutinize it and reject anything with rips. Try to keep it in as pristine condition as possible. Reputedly, this is more the case the further South you go. In any case, you can easily enter a bank with some damaged bill to get it exchanged into another one.

Merchants are often reluctant to make change in smaller towns. Try to avoid paying with overly large denominations; the best customer has exact change. In rural areas, your ‘change’ may consist of chiclets or other small commodities.

Manners

• Mexicans have a somewhat relaxed sense of time, so be patient. Arriving 15 minutes later than scheduled is often the norm.

• When anyone, even a total stranger, sneezes, you always say “¡salud!” (“bless you!” or more literally, “your health!”): otherwise, it is considered rude.

• The overwhelming majority of the population is and traditionally has been Roman Catholic, which results in many Mexicans being deeply religious and conservative in character, especially outside of the main cities.

• Mexicans do not typically have a relaxed view on LGBT issues unless you are in a major metropolitan or tourist destination such as a beach or the capital.

• When entering churches, always take off any sunglasses, caps or hats. Wearing shorts is not a problem at all, but it’s suggested to tie a sweatshirt or sweater to your waist so to avoid showing too much skin, which could be disrespectful in such places. However, away from the beaches, or northern areas, shorts are very rarely worn by Mexicans on the street and thus will attract more attention to you and make you stand out as a foreigner.

• Respect Mexico’s laws. Some foreigners feel that Mexico is a place where laws can be broken and the police bribed at all times. Corruption may be common among Mexican police and public figures, but since it is a problem that Mexican society has recently recognized and has been trying hard to fix, when foreign nationals behave in a manner which shows expectancy of this easy bribery, it is considered extremely disrespectful, and so it could be used as excuse for the police to give you “a respect lesson”. Remember, offering a bribe to an official could get you into trouble.

  For full Info about Mexico, follow this link