Latest / Brand Insiders / Enrique Calderon of Posadas on Mexico's Hospitality Boom, Experiential Innovation, and Building Brands That Outlast the Competition

Transcript

Enrique Calderon of Posadas on Mexico's Hospitality Boom, Experiential Innovation, and Building Brands That Outlast the Competition · Brand Insiders

• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to an exciting episode of Hospitality Nets Brand Insiders.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: We are joined today by Enrique Calderón.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: He is the COO of Posadas, the a very prominent and bastion of Mexican hospitality.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: So we are here to discuss all things Posadas as well as get the keys to the kingdom for what makes Mexico such a special place on the planet for domestic and international travelers.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: So, Enrique, to start things off for you, just give us an overview of Posadas as a group, an operator, a collection of brands.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_02: First of all, well, thank you for the opportunity for this interview.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm very proud to work in Posadas.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_02: I've been working in Posadas for 27 years.
• 1:10
  unknown: Wow.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that's the first thing that speaks very good about Posadas that many of us that work here, we have been many years in Posadas.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: Posadas is the largest hotel operator in Mexico.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_02: We manage hotels under our own brands.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_02: We have a very diversified portfolio.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_02: We have more than 200 hotels in more than 60 destinations in Mexico.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_02: The company has been in the market for more than 50 years.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_02: And during those 50 years, we've been developing certain brands that are very well positioned in the Mexican market, of course, and also in the global market, depending on the destinations that all those brands are located.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_02: But as we compete with all the global brands that are also with presence in Mexico, we consider ourselves like a global company.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_02: But the only thing is that we only have hotels in Mexico and in Dominican Republic.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_02: But we have to compete with all the Marriott's and Kilton's and Hyatt's and that they have a strong presence in Mexico.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_02: We have a stronger, but we compete every day for the customers that arrive to those particular destinations in Mexico.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_02: Because of that, we have a strong footprint in the main resource destinations such as Cancún, Los Cabos, or Puerto Vallarta.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_02: But we also cover the major cities like could be Mexico City or Guadalajara or Monterrey.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_02: And all the mid-sized cities that are very industrialized in Mexico and depends on certain, I would say certain type of manufacturing for certain destinations.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_02: There are certain cities in Mexico that are more focused on manufacture and automobile industry or electronics or aerospace.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_02: So that particular work of those destinations hits the target for certain companies and business travelers that come from either Canada, United States, Europe, or in some cases South America.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_02: And also, well, as we are, as we are now very strongly concentrated in Mexico, we have operations in South America from 1997 all the way to 2010.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_02: We acquired the Cesar Park grant from Mahochi Corporation in 1997 with four properties, and we turned into 15 properties that we sold to another company in 2010.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_02: So we go back to Mexico to concentrate really good, I mean, very focused in Mexico to consolidate our footprint in Mexico.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_02: Right now we're mostly focused in Mexico and in all the resort destinations, primarily in the Mexican destinations, but we also have right now two hotels in República Dominicana and Punta Cana, and we're still looking for opportunities in Aruba, Jamaica, and some other destinations that we might participate.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_02: There has been some exercise to generate presence in some Southern destinations like Costa Rica.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe that could be a possibility.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_02: But mostly right now is this is where our concentration is mainly focused.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you know, speaking of focusing in Mexico, I just want to expand a little bit for an international audience.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: Because first off, Mexico is now 130 million people.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: It's a huge country.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: And yes, it has some of the best beaches in the world, hands down.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: But it is far more than just Cancun, Los Cabos, and Puerto Vallarta, as you mentioned, the main beach destinations.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: There's so much culture, so much cuisine, so much art, so much history, so many other places to discover.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: Could you just give us more, a little bit more of a sense of some of the other places where your hotels are and some of this the regional variety that really makes Mexico so special?
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, of course, because what you say is really very uh it is true because we have seen, I mean, for many years that certain expert travelers like the certain European countries, they were touring all over Mexico trying to discover the culture and the history of Mexico.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_02: But right now I think in Mexico there's so more about culture and history.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: There's certain destinations that we call city leisure destinations, and you mentioned quite well.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_02: I think that in terms of using, there's four states in Mexico that really are the key elements from the Mexican gastronomy.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_02: One of those states is Yucatán, which were Chichenica is based, because some people think that Chichen Itsa is part of Cancún, but it's not, it's part of Mérida.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_02: And Mérida is a very beautiful colonial city, but also the gastronomy in Mérida is spectacular.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_02: But the good thing about that is even when the local gastronomy is so powerful, they have been another migration of chefs from other destinations that they have been mixed with certain techniques using certain elements of the Yucatan cuisine, and they create, I mean, very robust and powerful proposals about new dishes that has to do with the southern cuisine, but it's completely something new.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_02: And that what happens in Merida, it also happens in Oaxaca, where you can have this part of a lot of culture.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_02: It's a very beautiful colonial city, it has a lot of archaeological ruins.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_02: There's also some little towns that you can visit, and you can see some of the shops of the people that are making their own alebrijes or their own Barro Negro, which is a dark ceramic that comes originally from Oaxaca.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_02: And Oaxaca is where the mezcal was created.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_02: So mezcal is now becoming more popular internationally wise.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_02: And you can also go and visit some of the distilleries of mezcal that are, I mean, it's it's with a very handcraft process.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_02: So it's also a great place to stay.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_02: I remember once, and that's something that I want to share with, because when my kids were teenagers, they were like 12 and 10.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_02: So we decided to spend 10 days in Oaxaca.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_02: And my wife and I, we were thinking that they would be boring, and probably it will be not like a very nice vacation because they will be in a tough age where they cannot.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, they usually they don't get amused about that.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_02: But it was a great exercise because they love Oaxaca.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_02: Now they are more than 20 years old, and now they travel it by themselves.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_02: And Oaxaca is one of their favorite destinations because of the gastronomy, because the vibe that has the town, and the freedom that you see that you can move around all over the city, and every store, every restaurant, every bar, every rooftop that you stay has a different experience.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_02: And when then you jump from Oaxaca, Puebla, which is another another one of the most important cities that was founded also by the Spanish during the conqueror, as you can have the historical downtown of Puebla, is also a beautiful city with a different gastronomy, beautiful places to stay, great museums.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_02: And also you can jump and go to San Miguel de Allende, which is the biggest retired North American community.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_02: So it's a very nice town.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_02: Some people say that it looks like Seville in Spain because it's so colorful.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_02: Beautiful church, a lot of galleries, a lot of art, great restaurants, and any kind of restaurants.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's not only Mexican food.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_02: You can have great Italian food, I mean, great signature chefs, even Thai food.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_02: And we have one of the beautiful hotels of our portfolio, which is the Lai Bacqua in San Miguel de Allende, which was recognized by the priest of Versace.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_02: It's a recognition that the UNESCO gives to the most beautiful projects architecturally wise in North America.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_02: So that was one in 2019.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_02: And you can see that it's beautiful old houses in San Miguel where you can stay, small boutique hotels, beautiful places to visit.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_02: There's a lot of wine around San Miguel de Allende.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_02: In that region of the center of Mexico, there's also a very strong wine region, and there's very good wines, which is another purpose to travel to Mexico and see all the wine destinations that are very good and very well known.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_02: And the wine is great, and the blends that you can taste and parent with the food that you can have is also fantastic.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_02: So there's a lot of new purpose to travel within Mexico.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_02: Mexico City, I think, is one of the most richest cities in terms of gastronomy.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you can have cuisine from all over the world, any kind of restaurants.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_02: And also there's a lot of entrepreneurship about small cafes, breweries, restaurants, bars, terrass, places just to have like pancakes or sushi.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, a lot of great pipes within the neighborhoods, and everything has to do with food.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody's eating in restaurants every day, and also there's tons of galleries.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_02: I think Mexico City has uh more than 120 museums and more than 200 galleries and shops all over.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, all the major brands are in Mexico, but there's also new brands that come from Colombia, which they have great things in terms of fashion, and also very good Mexican producers in terms of jewelry and clothing, and I mean, it's great.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_02: And something that is very popular for the foreign travelers is that you can visit the luchas and you can have the turiluchas.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_02: The turiluchas is a bus, it's a two-story bus.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_02: Everything is branded about wrestling.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_02: So everybody's wearing the mask of the fighters that they're gonna have the wrestling in the arena.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_02: So they take you there.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_02: You see, I mean, everybody's screaming, and everybody's you know, like cheering, all the warriors there, and there's called the roots and the techniques, and they fight each other.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_02: So the roots are the bad boys, and the other ones are like the good boys, and then they take you to a tour of cantinas in downtown Mexico City.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, there's a lot of things to do, and we have presence in all the brands, in all those destinations that I mentioned.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_02: So, so we know what is the best thing to do, and we party our hotels with the experience that you can find in those new leisure destinations that they have no beach, but they have a lot of things to experience.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's truly just beautiful to hear you talk about everything that Mexico has to offer.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, me speaking to you here from Canada, it's you know, I should load up my next screen and start looking at flights and looking at hotels to stay at, right?
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: Just, you know, all these incredible destinations to come time and time again to Mexico.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: So therein, I'm wondering, you know, beyond just a little old Canadian here in Toronto, tell us about what sort of travelers come to Posadas Hotels.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: Is it a lot of internal domestic?
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_01: What are your key markets international as well?
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_02: I would like to cut it in certain destinations because I would say that, for example, a resort in Cancun, 80% of the guests they came from North America.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_02: And there's a reason why, because it's a short job in terms of, I mean, it's like five, six hours the most.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_02: And because the anticipation on the booking, usually those markets they book like between 90 and 60 days prior.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_02: So the domestic market and mostly the Mexicans, they try to book for the very next week.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_02: So when they want to book, there's not enough rooms or it is too expensive.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_02: No?
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_02: But that's a behavior that Mexicans they haven't changed.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_02: So that I mean, blame on them, but the North American traveler, US and Canada, they're more savvy in terms of look the way that they want to describe.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_02: If you go to Puerto Vallarta, it's 65%, they come from North America.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_02: In Cabos is around 85% from North America.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_02: In Cabos I would say that the other 15 is Mexican mostly.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_02: And in Puerto Vallarta, 30% is Mexican.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_02: And in Canpún, the rest, what is not occupied by the North American traveler, there's 5% of South America, there's 5% of Europe, and the rest is Mexico.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_02: But if you go to the main destinations like Mexico City or Guadalajara, which is there is a mix in Mexico City, there's a mix of business and leisure and leisure, I would say that it's 50-50.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_02: And in certain destinations, depends on the activity of the destination, but sometimes in the most industrialized destinations, we have 40% of the charge come from international destinations.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_02: For example, if you go to Aguascalientes, there's a big, huge Nissan factory.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_02: So everybody that comes from Nissan, there's either Mexicans, North American, some Europeans, and a lot of Asians, no.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_02: And they're only engineers.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_02: But mostly I would say that we have rich in the top of mind of the Mexican travelers, our brands are on the top.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_02: Either Fiesta Americana or Laivaqua, Fiesta In or Juan.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_02: Those brands are in the top of mind.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_02: Nevertheless, we don't have the majority of our customers as a Mexican, no?
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that's that's pretty much what we have.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, all the hotels and all the destinations, this is what they have because this is the activity of the destinations.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_02: There's some other destinations that are more focused on it.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, because it's the capital city of a state, and they don't have a particular industry.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_02: They're mostly Mexicans, the people that are going there.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_02: I think Monterrey, the majority of the travelers are Mexicans because there's a lot of big corporations based in Monterey.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_02: And there is international travelers, but the domestic is still stronger in different legals.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's interesting to color it that way, to just know how each market is different.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: And as COO, chief operating officer, you're right in the heart of this in terms of making decisions about the operations that are going to affect all teams, as well as working with the commercial team to target individual markets.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: So tell us what exactly is your role at well.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_02: My role at Posadas is being responsible of the hotel operations, the hotel business that we call it, because we manage hotels with our own brands.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_02: But when I say we manage, we are responsible for the commercialization, administration, and what we call conservation of the properties that has to do with engineering and all the sustainability strategies that we implement, and of course, operations, everything that has to do, what we deliver the promise to our guests.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_02: To achieve that, I have to work with the great staff, but very close involved with the commercial side because we need to generate the experiences that turn in what the commercial side is going to promise to the clients.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_02: So we have to work in the same path because I'm responsible of the product that they're gonna sell.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_02: So we have to work together of what is in the market, what is what becomes a trend, and how we can replicate in our hotels and targeting it different markets, each different tribes of clients, and offering different experiences that they're gonna have.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_02: On the other hand, we have to be implementing all the strategies of everything that has to do with our environmental policies and to take care and maintain all the resources that we have in the destinations that we stay in order to keep it clean and make it last forever.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_02: If we have a resource destination, we have to take care about the beach, the fishes, and everything that has to do with the destination to keep it uh beautiful and clean and ready to make customers go back and back and back.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_02: So at the same time, I lead uh negotiations with the unions, I work with all that has to do with our HR department and everything that has to do with training, programs that take care about our employees and how we can make Posadas the best company in the hotel industry to work with.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_02: I think the most important is that I have the relationship with the owners of the hotels because we manage hotels from other people.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_02: So I work with the development team when we present our brands and projections with investors.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_02: And once they sign the contract, I have a team that we go with the investor on a daily basis just to look at the process of their project.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_02: We review the blueprints, the phoney, I mean everything that has to do to decorate the hotel or that has to do to operate a hotel.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_02: And finally, when they finish the hotel, we take the hotel and we put in operations, and I have the relationship on a monthly basis just to show the results of the property, and then we have those relationships.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_02: It's funny to say that probably the oldest contract that we have is our Hotel Fiesta Americana in Puerto Vallarta that has been in the company for 47 years.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_02: So the owners now are very close to retire, and I deal with the sons.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_02: And that's happened with certain owners that now we are with the second generation, and they're still doing some other hotels with us.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, it's yet the horror of the heart of it is right, and I see that so much in hospitality that these are generational businesses.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: And it's incredible to hear that you know, you've helped owners at that property for 47 years, and now you're working with the sons and the daughters, the next generation, just to carry it forward and keep delivering those great experiences.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_01: So So looking ahead, tell us about some of the ways that Posadas is really innovating, both from brands, design, anything you want to touch on related to the hotel experience.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I think one of the most important parts is continue evolving as the market and the consumer are evolving.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_02: When we start doing hotels, the first hotel was called Fiesta Palace, and that was because there was a lot of fiesta at the hotel.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, there was a lot of nightclubs and a lot of singers and weddings and also rooms.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_02: But that was hot in that particular time.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_02: Right now it's a completely different scenario what we have in our hotels.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_02: We start with full service hotel.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_02: Everything was like cocky cutter, and we start evolving to start giving more personalization to our brands.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_02: I think Fiesta Americana, which was the first brand, still remained with a certain legacy of the traditional hotels, like could be like a Marriott is a Marriott, or when a Hilton is a Hilton.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that's a typical full service hotel and was projected as this.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_02: But then we start generating Fiesta In when there was a boom in the mid-scale and economy segment.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_02: Then we developed one, which is our economy-level hotel.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_02: And we make those hotels because they were very affordable to invest and would with a good ROI.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_02: So that gives us an opportunity to have Fiesta In and One as one of the fastest growing brands in the market.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_02: But that was fully in the mid-scale size.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_02: We start seeing that there was a separation of the mid-scale hotels were in that part.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that the full-service hotel they start generating more personality and getting up and getting with more rates above the mid-scale.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_02: And the business travelers and also the leisure travelers, they will start looking for more luxury experiences or a different type of experiences.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_02: So then we moved from the traditional brands, we moved with the new lifestyle brands.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_02: So that's what Aqua getting to the equation as a very sensorial brand that was trying to capture by your five senses.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_02: So giving you a very curated lighting in the hotel, curated of music in every different parts of the hotel.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_02: At the moment of the check-in, you walk into the lobby and there's a special fragrance that is developed just by the hotel for the hotel.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_02: And at the moment of the check-in, while you're listening, the beautiful music, you're smelling the beautiful perfume of the hotel, the lighting is great, and then you have a very relaxing tea when you sit down in the lounge, and then when you finish your checking, they give you a hands massage, and that's where we touch your five senses at the moment that you get into the hotel.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_02: And then we develop that with great spas, with the great options at the spa, well-being options and gastronomy, but gastronomy what has to do with traditional restaurants types, and also new proposals of restaurants and special menus for the people that want special food, like I mean, like plant-based food, the people that are gluten-free.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_02: So those special options, and even from we have Asian options in the restaurants, for example, for breakfast, because there's a lot of Asian and Indian and people that come from North America because they now they live there.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_02: You will see Japanese, Vietnamese, people from India that stay at their resource and they have this preference for food.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_02: So we have options for them as well.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_02: So we start evolving with Laibaca, and before the pandemic, we were looking for the new trends that are supposed to be before the pandemic.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_02: And what we saw is that there was a trend for the families to travel together to get more integrated and having more activities together.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_02: And there was another trend for people that it's looking more type of experience, and so we did we found that there was a niche for love celebration of life celebration, and we create some of the brands that I will tell you later on.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_02: But those are the new brands that are evolving according to what the new travelers are looking at.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_02: Once we come back from 2020, we see that all the travel preference changed drastically.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_02: The people were more willing to travel than willing to buy a car.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_02: Because they knew and they realized that freedom, the freedom of going anywhere is, I think, is the most precious thing that we have.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_02: So the people now is traveling probably four times a year or five times a year, when some of those people were not traveling probably not even twice a year.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_02: They're becoming more and more.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_02: And now they're looking for different experiences.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_02: Before, when you used to have your pocket list that going to China, Paris, Roma, Greece, etc., and now it what you want to do is uh ride into a balloon or going to a beach destination to experience those types of activities or going to a cultural trip in Europe.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I think the people right now, what they show is they want to have something that they will get into their own history and stay forever.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_02: So right now, in this particular year, we get together with all the operation teams and marketing and branding.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_02: And now we just come out with a portfolio of 25 experiences, new experiences that will be available in the majority of our upscale hotels, even resorts, cities, or colonial cities or leisure cities.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_02: And just to give you a quick heads up, we're gonna have the baby moon experience where the first timers that they're gonna travel, they're gonna talk about how they feel, because I mean your life is just about to change.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_02: They will be filming a video, there will be a shooting for them, and they will share each other how they feel.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_02: They will, I mean, it's like they will express how in love they feel at this moment, and they can be talking to the new baby that is coming, how they feel and how is this moment is happening.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_02: And so they will get a film of that and also a photo album that I know that they're not no longer popular as they used to be, but it's a great it's a great documentation of a great moment that you can share with your son.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, when it's four years or eight years, and that will be a very powerful experience for him to have.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_02: And that's something that it's not because we it's not that we invented that type of experience, but if we have available at the moment, I can try to promote more that type of experience than promote my hotel itself.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_02: I think the combination, if you are in that particular moment, that will make you an unforgettable trip.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_02: And this is what we want to move.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_02: And there's gonna be another experience where you can go with the chef and go to the local market and have breakfast there and buy everything for the lunch, and you will be cooking with the chef, the thing that you're gonna serve to your family or to your group of friends, or even they can participate and then can go into that particular experience.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_02: So, I mean, those kind of things I think is very powerful, and you can book it, select in advance, book in advance, or if I mean, if you are not that organized, you can book it at the hotel at the moment of checking, just looking at what is available and what you want to experience.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_02: So I think this is what the people are looking for.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_02: And we say right now that we're not longer selling rooms, we are selling experiences that include the room.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, it's very powerful.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_01: You know, my mind just started to, you know, light up when you're talking about traveling with the chef from the moment they go to the market learning how they find the freshest vegetables, then going back cooking, and then enjoying a meal that is entirely where hospitality is going as an experience.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_01: So on that note, Posadas has some exciting new brands to help really cater and cater to these experience-driven and lifestyle-driven guests.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_01: Three, just to call them out.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_01: We have Devotion, The Explorian, and I guess I'm if I'm pronouncing this properly, FU Funik.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_01: Funik.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Funik.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so tell us about some of the new brands that you have in your portfolio, as well as just some of the other more established brands like American Fiesta, that you're also embedding with these incredible experiences.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_02: We're very excited because it's a great moment that we're putting new brands in the market.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_02: The evolution of Fiesta Americana is now turning into Fiesta Americana Funic.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_02: And funic comes from Fun and Unique, that's what we pronounce like that.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_02: And it's a multi-generation resort that has, for example, that's our water park for kids and teens.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_02: There's a game arcade, I mean, with video games and things for the teens and kids.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_02: And there's also a volley alley, I mean, like four lines from Boring.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_02: And there will be theme restaurants.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_02: Uh depends on if you are in the water parks, it's gonna be a teens type of restaurant, and and also there's gonna be a different type of restaurants, like Mexican, like there's gonna be a Dominican cuisine restaurant in that particular hotel because it's in Punta Cana, French cuisine, grill, and there's gonna be an arrows-only area, and there's also there's gonna be uh paddle or pickleball courts, basketball courts, and also there's attached to the live aqua property, and those hotels they will share a conventions hotel because it's a good hotel also for groups and conventions.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_02: But that the brand is inspired, and like in a cruise ship, then you have all the activities.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_02: So all the family can go and everybody can, I mean, a lot of fun, and there's always something for everybody.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_02: And it's gonna be a new resort of 500 rooms, and so far we've been presenting the brand to clients and has been very successful.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_02: So we're just to be opening by the end of this year, and it looks like it's gonna be fantastic.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_02: The other one that I like a lot is the devotion.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_02: It comes from devotion and passion, so that's where the double is coming into the brand.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_02: And that's our life celebration brand, and it's a place where you can go when you have to celebrate something.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_02: Either a promotion in your job, the successful of a project, your wedding, your divorce, your birthday party.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_02: You just want to be and be thankful for the life you have, you want to get with your family.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's only it's annuls only, but nevertheless, you can have a great celebration.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_02: Every day at 1.26, 1 with 26 minutes, that's the golden toast activity.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_02: So everybody that is in the pool, they have a glass of champagne and they can make a toast just to thank life for what you have in, and you can cheers with your even with your friends or even with your neighbors that are next to you at the pool.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_02: There are certain activations like there's a phone party, there's certain parties that the one is inspired in Frida Kahlo kind of history, so it's very tied with the Mexican tradition, and the food is very artisanal.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_02: It's at the moment, it's a lot of Mexican food.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_02: It's a very tacos, clayudas, mini things that you can just go.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_02: It's like small buffet, but it's like a small, mini restaurant that you can go and grab your own food, and everything is ambient with images of Rida Carlo and paintings and traditions of Mexico.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_02: There's another one that it's the golden night, when everybody is wearing something gold or white, and and that's more like uh DJ and light music altogether, good gastronomy, and and there is a speakeasy in the hotel.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_02: So you have to learn how to find the clues to find the speakeasy, which is to go from the back of the house, and it's a very hidden place.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_02: And in the speakeasy, there's a lot of activations, there's like uh like there's talk shows, DJs, mixology classes, so there's full of entertainment, and also it's very well-being oriented because there's a classes of yoga, taiichi, there's meditation, and there's a beautiful spa that has a resting area which is like being inside of Asenote, so it's the same type of architecture that naturally the cenote are I mean created, so the freshness that you can feel inside Asenote is the freshness that you can feel when you are in the resting area at the spa.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_02: And it's a beautiful hotel, the architecture is fantastic, but that's that brand devotion is getting very popular, and we're just to be ready to open in the southern part of Isla Mujeres in the island.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_02: We're gonna be opening by the end of the year the second devotion in Islam Mujeres.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_02: So we are very happy of that.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_02: Exploring, which is more focused on self-adventure, is a brand that there's one in near to the border of Belize.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_02: It's near to Mayan ruins called Kochumlich, and it's a 40 casitas hotel that integrates everyday adventures.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_02: Adventure is like going and bicycle on the forest all the way to a certain Mayan Rings.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_02: And once you have your adventure, there's a catering service at the location with a chef.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it and it's food, like we say, like the like the explorers restaurant.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_02: When I mean we try to do very luxury experience because the food is great, and we bring bands one way to the other, but they create like a restaurant nearby where your team is going.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_02: They usually the team in the experiences are no more than 20 people, so you share with your own colleagues of experience.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_02: You can do that, you can dive in a cenote, you can do windsurf, you can do kayaking.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_02: Everything is in beautiful locations, so you can have lunch there or you can have dinner there.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_02: And actually, the exploring in Kohunlich has the highest NPS level for all, it has 96% of NPS.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_02: So everybody that goes there, they I mean, everybody is extremely amazed about the experience.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_02: Everything is all experiences.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_02: And Zombivia, we were seeing that there's a lot of opportunities of conversions.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_02: So sometimes Zombivia is kind of like a flexible brand where we can have and acquire to our portfolio of Zombivia certain landmark resorts that have been in certain destinations, and we can convert as a Zombivia just to guarantee the service and the quality of food.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_02: And it doesn't matter if the architecture is not in the same way.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_02: But right now we open in January the first one in Mazatlán, which is a destination that it's coming back.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_02: Actually, now we have seven hotels in Mazatlán, and there's two more coming.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_01: If I can unify all the brands here in terms of some of the features you talked about from the speakeasy to the uh kids' clubs and arcades and bowling alleys, it really is you're building places of community where people can find each other who are like-minded spirits and really have that connected joy in a lot of ways.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_01: I'm wondering if there are any other amenities or services that you've embedded into the operations of all these brands to really bring to light that joy and that sense of community.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_02: There's something that really enclosed all the motion brands and also in the mid-scale brands, is the is what we call the AMA culture.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_02: The AMA culture comes from action magic, and it's what really makes the people looking the opportunities to get something to really impact in our customers' lives.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_02: So everybody within the team at the hotel, they're looking if they listen something, that if it's your birthday or if something that you are celebrating for something, and they try always to surprise you.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_02: So we start many years ago, well, like 10 years ago, and we were doing this mosaics about a color rice, that it was like either your company name or your the logo of your football team that you were supporting.
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_02: From that, we moved to give you a portrait of your, I mean, you and your significant other, or a welcome photo show and the TV in the room while you were arriving saying, Adam, welcome.
• 41:41
  SPEAKER_02: And there was either pets, friends, kids, whatever, everything that is important to you.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_02: And also what we do is that within the departments in the hotel, they show appreciation to other departments in the hotel.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_02: It's like having the people from the front desk going to the beach and giving some fresh towels, water to the waiters that works in the beach, and they give what we call the AMA moment.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_02: So in that way, we show that everybody in the hotel is important and what they do is relevant for the successful of the hotel.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_02: And when we start doing that in Live Aqua Cancun, there was a lady, which is Canadian, by the way, and she decided to claim herself as the ambassador for Live Aqua.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_02: And we say, yes, of course.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_02: And she was, I think it was the third time at Aqua.
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_02: So she created a community in Facebook that belongs to her.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_02: She found it, and we have now almost 80,000, what they call themselves Aqua Lovers.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_02: So those Aqua Lovers, they share everything about the brand.
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_02: They compete each other, how many times there has been in Aqua.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_02: There's people that have been traveling in Live Aqua even four times a year at the same hotel.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_02: And they have pictures of the hotel at their house.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_02: They share this aqua trend, ladies that they paint their nails with a live aqua blue.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_02: They have the dogs that we have in Live Aqua, you know, the rubber dog that we have, and they create a, I mean, a lot of who is more artistic than the other one.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_02: So it's it's fantastic the way that they do it.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_02: And I think it's a great way when we see that this is happening, is because we have the right culture, we try our employees well, and we really take care of other people, investors, and our guests.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_02: When everything will match, you will be generating very happy customs, very happy customers that they will be loyal for many years.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_01: Beautiful story to hear about.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_01: About.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_01: And it really does speak to that sense of community that I was mentioning.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_01: And there's so many different ways to go around it.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_01: And you've been at the center of this, developing these operations and thinking these things through so that way you can create these magical moments for whether it's international or domestic guests.
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_01: So looking ahead here to the future of Posadas and Mexico, you mentioned earlier that there are a lot of international brands coming into Mexico.
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_01: Hilton, Marriott, even the luxury brands like Rosewood and Park Hyatt, they're all really developing in Mexico.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_01: So how has Posadas adapted in a lot of other ways to meet this new competition and really stay at the forefront of experiential design and really giving guests something that they can cherish for a lifetime?
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_02: I think we have presence in different tiers with different brands and different types of properties.
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_02: I think in resorts we compete with uh certain brands.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_02: In cities, we compete with some other brands.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_02: And in the ultra luxury, I mean, we have this live back when San Miguel de Allende that it's been side by side with Rosewood.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_02: And basically what we are working is to have well, well, when I was saying that we are like a global company, is we have to meet the standards internationally speaking.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_02: We work with Forbes Travel Guide to have the same standard, and we're looking to find either recommended or four-star or five-star, depends on the location and the type of clientele that we have.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_02: And that's what we align with the same international standards in terms of what it's called luxury.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_02: But we have to add some plus that we are locals.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_02: And I think something that we have to do to defend our position is to have this what we call truly Mexican hospitality with high level of standards in gastronomy, but we are the kings of the Mexican gastronomy, but we also have the global standards in terms of gastronomy.
• 46:21
  SPEAKER_02: So if you go to a French restaurant, it's as good as a restaurant in France.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_02: But what we say is that if you go into Rome, probably you will choose an Italian hotel, this typical villa that calls like what you see in the movies, instead of being in a I don't know, in a North American brand that or Canadian brand that you can visit when you travel domestically in your country, no?
• 46:52
  SPEAKER_02: I was in touring Spain and I was telling to a group of Spanish travel writers, and I was saying, why you go to Mexico and you stay in a Spanish restaurant, in a Spanish hotel, sorry.
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_02: Why don't you stay in a Mexican I mean in a Mexican hotel?
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_02: It will be more acquired of what we are you're what you're trying to discover, no?
• 47:12
  SPEAKER_02: So I think there's a room for international standard with a little tropicalization of what is truly the feel and the vibe of the country.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_02: And I think being a Mexican company makes our employees more proud to work with a company that everybody in Mexico is proud of what this company achieves.
• 47:35
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that gives us a good balance of what the global brands have, what they don't have here, and what we have here, plus what we don't have as a global distribution image, no?
• 47:50
  SPEAKER_02: So I think this is what will help us.
• 47:52
  SPEAKER_02: In terms of what we come in in the future, we have been able to achieve and not only renew our contracts with investors and the hotels that we have, we also have been have been rich for some other investors that they have been working with, some other companies that they want to try us and see if we can deliver better.
• 48:19
  SPEAKER_02: Last year we made four conversions of a four-ball branch for from, I mean, hotels that they were working with other brands that they finished their contract and they reach us.
• 48:32
  SPEAKER_02: And now we have four hotels that now are operating with our brands, and they are more satisfied right now.
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_02: At least is what they report.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_02: That they feel pos more close to the owners, to the hotel owners, and they feel like there's better partnership with what we do because we are not so large, so that gives us the ability to be closer to the investors.
• 48:56
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that's a good combination that that helps us.
• 49:00
  SPEAKER_02: And right now we have in our pipeline we still have 30 more hotels to be open in the next 20 months, and we're still working with some elites.
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_02: So it looks like we're gonna continue growing and growing for the next 10 years, absolutely.
• 49:22
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, 30 more hotels.
• 49:24
  SPEAKER_01: That's an incredible growth.
• 49:26
  SPEAKER_01: Congratulations, but also a ton of work for you and your team to manage that pipeline from all the development side through to pre-opening and the continuous operations.
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_01: So, aside from just that expansion plan, how else would you say that Posadas is evolving?
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_01: And where do you think the biggest opportunities are in experiential travel, wellness, different room configurations, new destinations?
• 49:55
  SPEAKER_01: What are you looking forward to in the Mexican hospitality?
• 50:00
  SPEAKER_02: What we really want to achieve is to have a strong presence in the non-Mexican Caribbean.
• 50:08
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 50:16
  SPEAKER_02: So we would like to have at least 10 properties in the Dominican Republic, probably two more in Jamaica, Aruba, and maybe some other destination that that in the Caribbean will give us the opportunity.
• 50:31
  SPEAKER_02: There's a strong possibility of keep growing in Cancún, Los Cabos.
• 50:36
  SPEAKER_02: And there's also now we have two projects of branded residences, one in Cabos, one in Acapulco, in Mexico, and one in Basatlán, and some other that we are discussing.
• 50:48
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that's a good opportunity to place our brands in this new type of business that it's getting a good ROI to the investors.
• 50:59
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that's something that we will be more actively participating in the next two years.
• 51:06
  SPEAKER_02: Some of the things that we like to continue promoting is uh helping some other hotels to migrate from another brand to our brands.
• 51:18
  SPEAKER_02: And I think we would like to have our stronger portfolio in cities.
• 51:24
  SPEAKER_02: We just relaunched the Fiestain brand with a new proper prototype that is more affordable to build, with that new experience, with because there's some areas that the hotel that the guest doesn't use anymore, and they need to be more practical in terms of restaurant and having in terms of meeting space.
• 51:45
  SPEAKER_02: So it's more efficient.
• 51:47
  SPEAKER_02: We run the hotel with less people, but the hotel is nicest.
• 51:53
  SPEAKER_02: The room is a little smaller, but it has much, much better amenities.
• 51:57
  SPEAKER_02: So we just launched a brand two weeks ago, and we just signed five contracts out of the first cocktail that we present that, so it looks like there's gonna be another opportunity to continue growing in the mid-scale and continue growing in the upscale business.
• 52:17
  SPEAKER_02: There's a possibility of having a live aqua like the one we have at San Miguel de Allende.
• 52:22
  SPEAKER_02: Probably there's gonna be a possibility to have it in Querétaro or Oaxaca or Mérida.
• 52:28
  SPEAKER_02: We have some discussions right now that we will be able to open there.
• 52:34
  SPEAKER_02: And there's some opportunities in Mexico City.
• 52:38
  SPEAKER_02: I think the geography of the city is changing.
• 52:41
  SPEAKER_02: There's coming a lot of new projects.
• 52:43
  SPEAKER_02: So I think, in terms of, we see that all the brands that we have right now, they will maintain the pace of growth.
• 52:50
  SPEAKER_02: So that gives us a lot of, I mean, they give us the idea that we're gonna be maintaining and growing our presence in Mexico, which is where everybody's trying to compete against us, and start getting a better footprint in some other destinations.
• 53:07
  SPEAKER_02: In terms of sustainability, our ESG program has some goals to be achieved by 2030 that align pretty much with what the UN and sustainability goals are.
• 53:24
  SPEAKER_02: So we are moving forward to them.
• 53:27
  SPEAKER_02: And as well, as we are a public company listed in the Mexican stock market, we are part of governance, it's also very well executed because we have to present our results every three months to the stock market.
• 53:44
  SPEAKER_02: In terms of what we do for the communities, through the Posadas Foundation, we help a lot of the families from our employees, and also in certain communities, we have been helping, like uh in Acapulco, there was a big hurricane two years ago, so we were supporting all the employees to rebuild their houses.
• 54:08
  SPEAKER_02: To, I mean, the very next day we were with medicines and food and I mean a lot of goods that we sent a truck to Acapulco.
• 54:19
  SPEAKER_02: And and we also gave the follow-up of that, and with the help of some other associations, we were able to rebuild six schools in Acapulco.
• 54:33
  SPEAKER_02: So that's what will make us very proud.
• 54:36
  SPEAKER_02: We have this scholarship program also, so now we have certain generations.
• 54:40
  SPEAKER_02: The people that are working in Posadas as an employee with a supervision level position, that they were son or daughter from one of our employees.
• 54:54
  SPEAKER_02: So we pay the tuition for their schools, and now they're working and they're having a better life because of the Posadas Foundation.
• 55:04
  SPEAKER_02: So, in terms of how we can influence with our colleagues' families, we try to communicate and teach them the relevance of being sustainable, of taking care of the ambience, and be sustainable and responsible.
• 55:21
  SPEAKER_02: And they go to their communities and they also replicate that.
• 55:25
  SPEAKER_02: And we have been recognized as there's an organization in Mexico that is called the Green Companies, and we have been recognized in the top 10 for the past 14 years in a row.
• 55:39
  SPEAKER_02: So we're leading all the efforts in what is the hotel business in Mexico.
• 55:45
  SPEAKER_02: And through the Hotel Chain Association, we were leading all the programs of that has to do with water consumption, reduction, electricity, and gas.
• 55:58
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 55:59
  SPEAKER_01: Again, truly enlightening.
• 56:00
  SPEAKER_01: I love hearing about the foundation.
• 56:03
  SPEAKER_01: It's just a fantastic element to really hear about, particularly because if you think about it, the heart of hospitality is always its people.
• 56:14
  SPEAKER_01: And it really is you're not only giving people guests and travelers incredible experiences, but you're also giving back to help ensure that the next generation of Mexico preserves what makes it so great today from the perspective of travelers visiting all these incredible destinations.
• 56:34
  SPEAKER_01: So to close out the hour in terms of our discussion here to learn about Posadas, uh, any other closing remarks or important things we haven't touched on?
• 56:46
  SPEAKER_02: No, well, I think we haven't touched nothing about the external factors that affects everybody, and of course, affects tourism.
• 56:55
  SPEAKER_02: And I think to know a little bit about the Posadas position in terms of what has been happening in Mexico and the world in the last year and this year as well, there has been some incidents that it sometimes affect the perception of security of the people traveling to Mexico, no?
• 57:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 57:20
  SPEAKER_02: And the good thing is that we're, I mean, we're cutting the big narco chips, and I think we're bidding in a good way as a country, but there has been some incidents that sometimes they have a lot of broadcast factors that is strong.
• 57:38
  SPEAKER_02: And when everything comes back to the normal, which usually in this case was like 48 hours later, we don't have capacity to, you know, to replicate the same message that was published.
• 57:53
  SPEAKER_02: But I think it's one of the things that we see in Mexico, Mexico continues to be the fastest growing hospitality market.
• 58:02
  SPEAKER_02: And I think it's because things are not as bad as could look when you are outside.
• 58:12
  SPEAKER_02: I think there's a lot of people investing in Mexico.
• 58:15
  SPEAKER_02: Every year there's more people traveling to Mexico from abroad, and I think the experience and the safety that you can experience in Mexico is as safe as any other destinations.
• 58:29
  SPEAKER_02: Of course, there's robbery in Egypt, there's robbery in Rome, there could be uh terrorists in some places, and but I think it's a good time to travel right now.
• 58:40
  SPEAKER_02: And I was saying to the other day in one presentation that I if you don't have tickets for the World Cup, it's a great opportunity to travel against the World Cup.
• 58:51
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, there's gonna be a lot of promotions and destinations that will be very affordable.
• 58:56
  SPEAKER_02: And I think if you want to travel, it will be great if in the next months you can experience one of those cities in Mexico that we were talking about, there will be a lot of opportunities to travel because I mean the World Cup is gonna be all over the place and in some other places.
• 59:14
  SPEAKER_02: So there's gonna be a lot of opportunity to have cheap tickets, better hotel rates, and better travelers in those particular destinations.
• 59:22
  SPEAKER_02: So I think it's a good opportunity to take advantage of.
• 59:26
  SPEAKER_02: And in terms of, I mean, the world has been very booming the last two years, and I think it's gonna continue.
• 59:34
  SPEAKER_02: So when everything is moving, I think I mean so many changes is like the new is it becomes a new normal.
• 59:46
  SPEAKER_02: So I think in terms of what we are doing and what we're planning for the future, is that hotels is like a long-term investment, and everything that we do in Mexico and everything that we do in Posadas is a long-term strategy.
• 1:00:02
  SPEAKER_02: So there's gonna be some good and bad days, but we see that the bright suns after the mountains.
• 1:00:09
  SPEAKER_02: So I think it's a good opportunity to have a great year.
• 1:00:14
  SPEAKER_02: There's a lot of opportunities in Mexico and the Caribbean for us to grow.
• 1:00:18
  SPEAKER_02: There's good people that we work with in our hotels that they will support this growth.
• 1:00:24
  SPEAKER_02: So I think there's a lot of positive trends for Posales in the future.
• 1:00:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, you mentioned some of the current events, and yeah, we don't need to dwell on any individual one, but this two shell past, there's so many great destinations in Mexico to discover.
• 1:00:44
  SPEAKER_01: And those incidents are just very minor things, or even the stuff happening overseas, people want to stay closer to home.
• 1:00:51
  SPEAKER_01: So there's always such dynamic travel variety in Mexico and so many incredible places that these little things are slowly going to fade away, and Mexico will continue to grow over the next 20 years.
• 1:01:04
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's just not gonna stop, and Posadas is right at the center of it.
• 1:01:09
  SPEAKER_01: So, Enrique, thank you so much for coming on the show.
• 1:01:12
  SPEAKER_01: It was fantastic to have you on to discuss everything involving Mexican hospitality.
• 1:01:18
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you very much, Alan.
• 1:01:19
  SPEAKER_02: And of course, you have an open invitation to go and see, just let us know, and we may hear an itinerary.
• 1:01:28
  SPEAKER_01: That would be incredible.
• 1:01:29
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'll have to take you up on one of one of that these days.
• 1:01:32
  SPEAKER_01: Right now I'm just firmly here in Toronto and you know, behind every guest day, there's you know, people like you and me, everyone else who works in hospitality, just answering meetings and pushing everything forward for 12 hours a day sometimes, just to ensure that other people can really enjoy those special moments when they are traveling.
• 1:01:54
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 1:01:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:01:56
  SPEAKER_01: So, Enrique, thank you so much.
• 1:02:00
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
• 1:02:01
  SPEAKER_00: It has been a pleasure.