Michelle Fridman Hirsch

Yes, there is definitely a thorough line between the work I did promoting world music through records and what tourism does — which is essentially transporting people, through advertising campaigns or music or gastronomy or festivals, to places they may not even know they want to be. That is precisely the fortunate connection between my career in music, in world music specifically, and tourism — and it is the point where my career took an unexpected turn toward the tourism industry.

My time in the public sector has been an entirely different kind of education from what I gained over many years in the private sector.

The truth is they are two worlds that complement each other very well but are completely different. And I believe that having had the opportunity to move through both and understand their strengths and weaknesses makes me a far more well-rounded decision-maker.

Both the public and private sectors have real strengths, real
weaknesses, and real areas of opportunity — and they tend to share one important flaw: a breakdown in communication between two languages that are not the same, but that ultimately have to understand each other in order to manage projects in a solid way.

What happened in the Pueblos Mágicos was the result of a deliberate bet on decentralization — something the anchor destinations; by their very nature, do not need to replicate in the same way.

First, we created the product: we transformed the Tequila Route into a full valley integrating eight municipalities, and we developed a brand-new route in Los Altos de Jalisco that had been waiting years to be organized.

But having the product is not enough if you don’t communicate it. That is where the ‘Conecta con tu interior’ campaign proved decisive. This initiative allowed us to make this new offering visible and motivate travelers to step beyond traditional destinations and explore the identity,
gastronomy, and distinct character of these communities.

The numbers show that diversification — one of the three pillars of our State Plan 2025–2030 — works. While anchor destinations grew by 1%, our 12 Pueblos Mágicos recorded increases of 2% and 12%. The strategy has never been to replace the major destinations, but to consolidate them as the main gateways into a much broader and more equitable Jalisco.

The great offering that still does not exist in the North American imagination is Costalegre. Along that coastline we have seen developments such as Six Senses Xala and Chablé El Tezcalame arrive, and destinations like Careyes, Cihuatlán, Barra de Navidad, Tenacatita, Chamela, Majahuas, and Cabo Corrientes are positioning the region as one of Latin America’s most promising destinations for sustainable luxury tourism, built around a very straightforward philosophy: true luxury lies in preserving nature.

To that we add the agave landscape of the Tequila Valley Route, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2006, where ancient industrial facilities coexist with haciendas and gastronomic experiences; and San Sebastián del Oeste,
one of the three Pueblos Mágicos that make up the Raicilla Route, with its intact colonial architecture.

For a traveler to choose ten days in Jalisco over Tuscany, the same thing we are pursuing through campaigns like the one you represent would have to happen: that high-net-worth buyer would need to see, through concrete images and experiences, that a single trip can offer pristine beaches, vineyards and centuries-old agave plants, colonial architecture, and a gastronomy recognized by the MICHELIN Guide — all connected by an airport infrastructure that keeps
growing.

It is, literally, telling the same story we applied to Puerto Vallarta, but extended to the rest of the state.

You secured ITB Américas for Guadalajara for at least five years — one of the world’s most important travel trade fairs, permanently anchored in Jalisco. That is a B2B coup that most states would never have pulled off. How did you close that deal, and what does it mean for the long-term positioning of Guadalajara as a MICE destination against Mexico City?

Guadalajara has all the elements to establish itself as a leading destination for meetings, congresses, and events: infrastructure, connectivity, a strong cultural and gastronomic offering, and its own distinct identity.

The meetings’ industry represents an enormous opportunity for Jalisco — in 2025 it generated an economic impact of 55 billion pesos and more than 87,000 jobs — which shows we are not just talking about events, but about an activity with a real economic footprint. That is precisely why it was important for Guadalajara to become a gathering point for the tourism industry itself: the arrival of ITB Americas for at least five years — the first edition of this trade show on the continent — allows professionals from different markets, from Canada to Argentina, to experience firsthand what Jalisco has to offer and to build lasting relationships.

Add to this the fact that the city is home to more than 1,200 technology companies and around 150,000 specialized jobs, along with platforms like México Hospitality Expo powered by
HOSTELCO, and you have a city that is strengthening its profile as a hub for business, innovation, and meetings.

All of this is part of a single strategy: for Guadalajara to be recognized not just as a city that receives visitors, but as a city capable of convening the world.

The World Cup was an extraordinary opportunity to show that Jalisco is far more than a host city, and the decentralization strategy was designed precisely to bring that attention to different regions. We created 39 experiences and more than 70 packages through the Jalisco World Cup Passport, and we brought shared viewing and celebration spaces — Public Viewings, FanZones, and activations — to Tequila, Tapalpa, Mazamitla, Lagos de Moreno, Ajijic-Chapala, and
Puerto Vallarta.

The scale of the event was enormous: the direct tourism economic impact exceeded 11.5 billion pesos — equivalent to more than $670 million USD. We had approximately 1.9 million attendees across the Fan Fest and Public Viewings, more than 50,000 people at additional World Cup activations, and an operation sustained by close to 17,000 personnel. That
infrastructure and those lessons stay with us: Line 5 connects the airport to Estadio Akron, the Carretera a Chapala was transformed into a twelve-lane corridor, and we rehabilitated 270 municipal sports fields across the state’s 125 municipalities.

But the numbers are not the ultimate goal. What matters is what we do with that exposure. We want those who came for the World Cup to discover a Jalisco they want to return to — and that does not depend on any single institution. It requires coordination between government, municipalities, the private sector, communities, and the entire tourism chain.

Absolutely. When we started this administration, we set out to study the “Jalisco is Mexico” brand, because personally I have always believed that brands carry so much investment of time, effort, and money that changing them every administration is a mistake. That said, a brand that is not working must be updated.

In the case of Yucatán, for example, we conducted the
relevant studies and found that the brand was not recognized either within or outside the destination.

In Jalisco’s case, we found that the brand was more than well-positioned and widely recognized — yet poorly understood. So what we focused on giving life, meaning, and narrative to a
very successful brand built by previous administrations, believing that what works and what succeeds under other governments should be capitalized on, not dismantled. In that sense, “Jalisco is Mexico” fills us with pride, because Jalisco truly is the finest representation of what México proudly stands for in the world.

Mariachi, tequila, charrería, tradition, flavor, gastronomy — but also so many of the figures México is recognized for globally in film, sport, art, culture, and music. That is something we have wanted to capitalize on: the enormous diversity and the remarkable way Jalisco represents
México on the world stage.