Interview Series Architects of Desire - Josefina Rodríguez Zamora
JOSEFINA RODRÍGUEZ ZAMORA. She made Tlaxcala — México's smallest, most overlooked state — a destination people actually wanted to visit. Then President Sheinbaum handed her the sixth most visited country on earth. She is 36 years old, a former restaurateur, and arguably the most creative tourism mind in Latin America right now.
by Mayté Rodríguez Cedillo and Fernando Favela · Travel Intelligence · BajaTraveler.com
"It is a privilege to share these reflections with the readers of BajaTraveler®. As we navigate this new era for Mexican tourism, our focus is not just on the numbers, but on the profound human connections that define our nation," Josefina Rodríguez Zamora.
You are 36 years old, the youngest member of President Sheinbaum’s cabinet, and you lead the tourism strategy of the sixth most visited country on earth. When the President called you, what was the first thing you thought — and what was the first thing you did the morning after?
When President Claudia Sheinbaum called, my first thought was a profound sense of responsibility toward my generation. Being the youngest member of the cabinet is not just a personal honor; it is a mandate to bring a fresh, agile, and technological perspective to our governance. The morning after, I didn’t reach for a celebratory glass; I reached for a map and my notes. I began outlining how to scale the success we had in Tlaxcala to a national level, focusing on one word: territory.
Tlaxcala is Mexico’s smallest state — historically invisible, consistently overshadowed. You took that invisibility and turned it into an identity. “Tlaxcala, Sí Existe” is one of the most creative destinations branding campaigns México has produced in years. What did a state that nobody talked about teach you about how to make people fall in love with a place?
Tlaxcala taught me that authenticity is the ultimate luxury. When you are “invisible,” you don’t have the luxury of being generic. We had to find our “why.” I learned that to make people fall in love with a place, you don’t sell them a hotel room; you sell them a legacy. It taught me that pride is the best marketing tool. If the locals believe in their magic, the world will eventually see it too.
México received 47 million International tourists in 2025 and nearly $32 billion in tourism revenue. Those are numbers that most countries spend decades trying to reach. Yet our readers — affluent U.S. and Canadian travelers — often still choose Europe, Southeast Asia or the Caribbean over México. What is México not telling them that it should?
We often focus on our past (archeology) or our relaxation (beaches), but we aren’t talking enough about our sophistication. North American travelers often view México through a lens of “rustic charm.” We need to tell them about our world-class design, our contemporary art scene, and our mastery of high-end service that rivals any five-star experience in Paris or Tokyo. México is not just a getaway; it is a global cultural capital.
You have been a restaurant entrepreneur since 2016. You understand hospitality from the inside — the kitchen, the service, the guest experience. How does that ground-level formation shape the way you think about México’s tourism offer at a national scale?
Being a restaurant entrepreneur since 2016 taught me that the guest is the center of the universe, but the staff is the soul of the business. In a kitchen, you learn that if the “back of the house” isn’t working, the “front of the house” will fail. Nationally, this means that if our tourism workers aren’t well-compensated and proud, the visitor experience suffers. My formation is grounded in service, timing, and quality control.
For the traveler who thinks they’ve seen it all, I recommend:
- Cuetzalan, Puebla: A misty, cloud-forest village where indigenous traditions are so vibrant they feel like a living heartbeat.
- Creel, Chihuahua: The gateway to the Copper Canyon. It offers a rugged, alpine majesty that shatters the stereotype of México as a purely tropical destination.
- Izamal, Yucatán: The “Yellow City.” It is a stunning visual masterpiece where a colonial convent sits atop a Mayan pyramid, all painted in a uniform, radiant egg-yolk yellow.
México’s gastronomy holds UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status — one of only a handful of culinary traditions in the world with that recognition. Yet “Mexican food” in North America still means something that bears almost no resemblance to what actually exists in México. What is the single culinary experience in México that would permanently change a North American traveler’s understanding of what Mexican cuisine actually is?
The experience that changes everything is the “Traditional Milpa.” Sitting in a rural kitchen, eating a handmade tortilla made from heirloom corn, accompanied by a complex Mole that took days to prepare. When a traveler understands that our cuisine is a sacred cycle of corn, beans, and chili—not just a “taco”—their entire perspective shifts. It is a flavor profile that is thousands of years old.
The FIFA World Cup 2026 will bring an estimated 5.5 million additional visitors to México. That is an extraordinary opportunity — but also an extraordinary stress test for infrastructure, hospitality, and the image of safety. How do you turn a sporting event into a lasting tourism legacy rather than a one-time spike?
We are treating the World Cup as a technological and infrastructure accelerator. It is not just about the matches; it is about the “Welcome Experience.” We are using this event to digitize our entry points and upgrade urban mobility. The legacy will be a modernized tourism apparatus that proves México can host the world with flawless precision and safety.
You have stated publicly that México’s goal is to reach fifth place among the world’s most visited countries by 2030. France, Spain, the United States, China, and Italy currently occupy those top positions. That is an extraordinary ambition. What specifically does México have that none of those five countries can offer — and what stands in the way of getting there?
What do we have that France or Italy doesn’t? Multiculturalism in real-time. We are one of the few places where high-tech modernity lives alongside 68 different living indigenous cultures. The barrier? Perception and connectivity. We are working tirelessly to ensure that our internal connectivity (like the Tren Maya) matches our external ambition.
Safety perception remains the single most stubborn barrier between México and the North American luxury traveler. You cannot change this with a press release. As someone who has spent her entire career building desire for destinations — not deflecting criticism of them — what is your honest, non-ministerial answer to the traveler who says: “I want to go to México, but I’m afraid”?
My non-ministerial answer is this: I live here, I travel here, and I raise my expectations here. Fear often comes from the unknown. To the traveler who is afraid, I say: México is a continent-sized country. While we face challenges, the reality on the ground in our tourism corridors is one of warmth and community protection. We don’t just want you to be safe; we want you to feel the peace that comes from being welcomed by a family.
You have dedicated your career to making people fall in love with places they had overlooked or underestimated. First Tlaxcala, now all of México. If you had to choose one moment — one specific experience, one landscape, one flavor, one human encounter — that you believe captures the irreducible soul of México for a first-time luxury traveler, what would it be?
Me encanto la entrevista – excelente serie.
BRAVO Josefina! Great interview.