As we enter another week of our new, but temporary reality, we hope you are well and sincerely thank you for doing your part to keep our community safe. All our decisions play an integral role in the extent to which our region and industry will be affected and how quickly we bounce back.
These unprecedented times have presented an opportunity to spotlight Riviera Nayarit’s unmatched hospitality found only in Mexico’s Pacific Treasure. Even at a distance, Riviera Nayarit’s tourism sector is more united than ever before.
For example, the Banderas Bay Hotel and Motel Association (AHMBB) has joined the global initiative with a message of hope and encouragement by lighting up its hotels with heart-shaped figures in solidarity with the local and global population that has to stay home because of the current emergency situation due to COVID-19. Gestures like these are simple yet impactful for all those affected during this time.
Another example is how PEACE Punta de Mita and Punta Mita Resort, a DINE property, have joined forces to proactively devise both short and long term plans to address this crisis, which is beginning to severely impact the lives of the 3,000 people who call Punta de Mita home. The group, aided by the PEACE staff and a group of local restaurateurs, identified families of nearly 200 children and 100 elderly in Punta de Mita who are at risk for not having access to daily food. The immediate response plan is the distribution of weekly filled grocery bags – with the first delivery to deploy last week, with support from the team at La Comer Supermarket.
The distribution points will be the senior centers in each town of PdM. Without doubt, the number of families needing assistance will likely grow, and the PEACE staff is in the process of identifying them by name and family size, assuring that food supplies are to be directed to only townspeople. Close in, the plan is to give priority to the unemployed families of children with possible expansion to all 1,100 families, based on incoming donations and the duration of the pandemic’s effect in Punta de Mita.
Jesús Carmona, President of Banderas Bay Hotel and Motel Association and Director of Operations at Vallarta Gardens, in conjunction with Mario Nasser, President of the Riviera Nayarit Restaurant Association, began a fantastic effort to support and thank the frontline policing who is monitoring Sayulita and Jarretaderas access filters. Some hotel properties as Paradise Village, Vidanta, RIU, Las Palomas Nuevo Vallarta, Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit, Occidental, Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita and, of course, Vallarta Gardens are providing water every day. Restaurants Il Padrino di Vallarta, La Quinta Di Francesco, El Chivero, La Puerca Chula, Mar y Sol, Toscana Mía and Mediterráneo are contributing with food.
These are just a few initiatives of how we can stand in solidarity together and with the world. We encourage you all to share a light of hope in your community. Whether it is lighting hotel rooms in the shape of heart or donating food and supplies to your staff or those on the frontline, we would like to share what you’re doing and inspire others. Please send in details of how you are paying it forward at info@rivieranayarit.com
As always, stay well.
Sincerely,
Managing Director
Riviera Nayarit Convention & Visitors Bureau