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| Puerto Vallarta | | October
28th to November 3rd, 2002 | Hurricane
Kenna Destroys Some Beaches, Replaces Others You've
heard about it, you've seen the pictures on TV and on the internet, but you may
not have seen it in person. The devastation that the "Pacific"
waves wreaked in less than one hour is not to be believed, if you want to see
it in more detail, you may log on to www.destinovallarta.com
or http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news?c=news_photos&p=Hurricane+Kenna Both
sites are chock-full of excellent photographs of Puerto Vallarta and San Blas,
Nayarit - which is where the full force of the hurricane hit. You may not believe
it after you see the pictures, but Puerto Vallarta was barely "grazed"
by this monster of a hurricane. The positive side of all
this is the incredible solidarity shown by most of the local residents in cleaning
up, pulling themselves up by their bootstraps and vowing to rebuild this beautiful
coastal resort better and prettier than ever. There are
beachfront hotels and restaurants that were damaged, that is true, but most are
alive and well, all cleaned up and beautiful once again, ready to welcome their
guests and customers. Though Hurricane Kenna wreaked untold
damage to the Malecon (seawall) of Puerto Vallarta's downtown area, and to the
shops on the other side of the street, it brought a beach back to the beautiful
Gran Turismo hotel south of town, La Jolla de Mismaloya. One
year ago, a freak underwater landslide caused the beach in Mismaloya Bay to nearly
disappear. Despite all of man's best intentions and efforts, nothing seemed to
help …until Hurricane Kenna's visit last Friday. With
every subsequent enormous wave, more sand and beach was added to the remnants
of last year's event. By the time the hurricane had left the area, La Jolla de
Mismaloya had a beach once again. The guests at the hotel
had a great time taking photos of the phenomenon from the safety of the Hotel's
Convention Center.
First Mexico - European
Union Meeting in Vallarta This Week This Wednesday
and Thursday, the beaches of Puerto Vallarta will be the backdrop for the first
Mexico - European Union conference, with Jalisco playing a pioneer role in the
institutional relationship between Europe and this country. According
to a spokesperson, the Governor of the State of Jalisco will be present at the
inauguration as will Mexico's Ambassador to the European Union, Porfirio Muñoz
Ledo, and the "Euro-Deputy of the Parliament", José Ignacio Salafranca.
The purpose of the conference is to tighten the opportunities arising in Europe
where Jalisco may be a direct player. City authorities
will play only a logistical role in the conference. Among other things, Vallarta
will set up a tourism promotion table for the 100 visitors who are expected from
both Europe and other points of this country. Among the
topics to be dealt with during those days are: Mexico-European Union Cooperation,
contributions of the European Investment Bank in Latin America and Mexico, and
Mexico's Ambassador to the European Union is also scheduled to address participants
at the conference.
Restaurants To Stop
Accepting Credit Cards… Restaurant owners in
Jalisco announced that they will no longer accept credit card payments as of November
1st. They are using this measure to demonstrate their disagreement with the high
rates of commission charged by the Mexican banks on credit cards. In the past,
their association has asked the banks on numerous occasions to lower their rates
from 4-6% to 2-3%, but their pleas fell on deaf ears. There
are over 10,000 establishments that make up the restaurant owners' association
in the state of Jalisco, potentially representing a serious loss to the banking
institutions. A spokesman for the National Chamber of the Restaurant Industry
(CANIRAC) stated that these commissions represent a loss of approximately $900
Million Pesos per year to the industry. In Puerto Vallarta,
the President of the local CANIRAC is awaiting instructions from the state. She
pointed out that restaurants have to pay up to 8% commission to American Express
and this causes them problems as AmEx sometimes takes as long as one month to
pay them their dues. Consequently, local restaurant owners have decided to restrict
their acceptance of this particular credit card as much as possible. In addition,
many establishments have stopped accepting payments by credit cards of any type
because they do not want to take the chance of being caught trying to get paid
for bills paid by "cloned" cards.
Café
des Artistes Receives Distinctive "H" Certification In
a ceremony held last week, the Distinctive "H" Certification was awarded
to the Café des Artistes restaurant and the Presidente Intercontinental
Hotel. This one-year certification signifies that both establishments have satisfied
all the requirements set by the official F-605-2000 Standards of Mexico. It is
the third consecutive time for Café des Artistes. Establishments
who seek this distinction do so on a voluntary basis. The Distinctive "H"
was first introduced in Mexico back in 1988, in line with its equivalent in Canada
and the United States, and in accordance with the recommendations of the World
Health Organization (WHO). It is awarded to providers who handle food and beverages
at the highest levels of hygiene. These establishments are subject to the verification
of their operations from the moment of purchase and reception of the goods, through
their storage, thawing procedures, cooking, conservation and final service.
First
Vallarta Golf Championship 2002 Vallarta's first ever
Golf Championship will take place this Wednesday, October 31st, Thursday, November
1st and Friday 2nd at the Marina and Vista Golf Clubs. The first round will be
played on the Wieskopf Course at Vista Vallarta, continuing at the Jack Nicklaus
Course - site of the EMC2 2002 World Cup, and then the final round and "SHOOT
OUT" at the challenging Marina Vallarta Club de Golf. Twenty-five
pairs of amateur golfers, national and foreign are expected to take part in the
tournament. The magnificent bronze "SWING VALLARTA"
trophy designed by noted sculptor Octavio Gonzalez will be awarded to first, second
and third place in each flight. In addition, the first and second player closest
to the pin on each of the 12 designated Par 3's will qualify for the "Shoot
Out". First place winner will walk away with the "SWING VALLARTA"
trophy, plus the VIP package EMC2 WORLD CUP 2002, valued at U.S. $2,500. Should
there be a winner of the "Hole-in-One" contest, he/she will drive away
in a brand new automobile. Organizers of the tournament believe that part of the
event will be televised on ESPN. On a related topic, the
First Golf Fair of Mexico was held at the Krystal Hotel a couple of weeks ago.
Over 260 people attended the event where the various golf destinations in Mexico
were represented. Most buyers came from Canada and the United States, while only
8% came from Mexico and Europe. Next year, the Golf Fair is scheduled to take
place in Acapulco, in the state of Guerrero. Archives
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