By Jennifer Riley/ El Financiero International
November 9 – 15, 1998

LOS ANGELES: Having read one too many traveler beware stories about México, journalist Mayté Rodríguez Cedillo decided to counteract the negativity. The result of her pro-Mexico campaign will be on newsstands at the end of this month in the form of the first annual BajaTraveler™️ and Mexico’s Ports of Call magazine.

With an anticipated circulation of 40,000 in parts of the United States, Canada, México and Europe, BajaTraveler™️  will target tourists in 5 languages (English, Spanish, French, Italian and German) in hopes of luring them to Rodríguez’s home state.

“I wanted the magazine to cover all of México, but that’s a bit ambitious for one person.” Admits the quadrilingual entrepreneur. “I thought I’d start with Baja, since I grew up in Tijuana. I’m doing it for the love of the country and to demonstrate that we do indeed have many precious things in Baja California and in México’s ports of call. I want to let the tourist know that while we have negative things – just like any other country, we also have a lot of positives to offer.”

As a former TV reporter and media salesperson in Los Angeles, San Diego and Spain, Rodríguez is well aware of what makes news sell. Throughout her life, she interpreted the press’s treatment of México as “strictly negative, but she also realized that the sensationalism of México’s ills was news that sold. Having invested in BajaTraveler™️ she’s hoping that good news about México will also sell.

“Based on the statistics I gathered from the tourism bureaus, there’s a high percentage of Europeans that visit the area,” she explains. “Having already decided to target U.S. tourists, I felt that there was also a need to target people outside the United States.” The result will be an overall English format with descriptions of individual destinations in five languages. The premiere issue will focus on Baja California as well as on the port of Puerto Vallarta. This format will be repeated for next year’s issue to incorporate one or two additional ports of call – since “tourism goes to the ports,” as Rodríguez puts it.

The reaction in México to the publication has been positive. According to Jorge Gamboa Patrón, México’s tourism representative in Los Angeles, BajaTraveler™️ is expected to counteract recent negative stories as well as educate foreigners about México. “Every publication that includes any destination in México gives us a great opportunity to show people our country,” Gamboa says. “One of the most popular destinations has been Baia California for the last two years – not only in the United States but in Europe and Canada. The format is good in that it will touch on all the services and features México has to offer. BajaTraveler™️ will basically put Cabo on the map.”

With more than 22 million people having visited México in 1997, Gamboa estimates that only 01 percent of these visitors fell victim to the country’s widely reported crime. Gamboa, like Rodríguez attributes the widespread coverage of México’s crime problem to the media’s desire to produce news that sells. “Since the focus on bad news is normally what sells, this can be seen as an exaggeration of what really happens.” Gamboa adds. “All the news reports focus on these exceptions instead of on the bigger benefits of visiting Mexico. BajaTraveler will help us inform travelers and also counteract negative images.”