San Diego and Tijuana authorities have revived collaborative efforts to boost regional tourism after more than five years of inaction.
Joe Terzi, CEO of the San Diego Tourism Authority, said an informal cross-border tourism marketing collaboration had largely come to a stop because of fears tied to drug violence south of the border.
“It just hasn’t been an appropriate discussion to have because of the level of uncomfortableness with what was happening in the region," Terzi said.
He said attitudes are changing. San Diego visitors often ask about opportunities to visit Tijuana and other parts of Baja California, he said.
The boards of directors for both the San Diego Tourism Authority and Tijuana's Conventions and Tourism Committee signed a binational agreement Thursday to work together to lure more international visitors, making collaboration official for the first time.
The agreement was signed in Tijuana at the first-ever joint meeting between the two tourism authorities.
Most of San Diego’s international visitors come from Mexico and Canada, Terzi said. But he said working with Tijuana to promote the cross-border region will help pull in more visitors from Japan, China and parts of Western Europe.
He said visitors from those parts of the world often visit San Diego on day trips while staying in Los Angeles, but that it would benefit the economy to convince more of those visitors to spend the night in San Diego while also taking advantage of its proximity to Mexico.
Both tourism authorities will be increasing cross-border content on their websites. The San Diego Tourism Authority will include information on Tijuana and Baja California in its biannual visitor guide published by San Diego Magazine. A board member from the San Diego Tourism Authority will sit on Tijuana's Conventions and Tourism Committee board, and vice versa.
Terzi said the cross-border airport terminal that opens at the end of this year will help boost regional tourism. The San Diego International Airport has limited capacity with only 480,000 direct international seats a year, he said. That's compared with 11 million at the Los Angeles International Airport.
Tijuana's airport doesn't get oversaturated to the extent that San Diego's does, Terzi said. That means international visitors can fly into Tijuana and cross the border into San Diego to visit both cities.
Terzi added that these collaborative efforts will help the local cruise ship industry recover.
“We have an advantage to some other destinations because we can offer them an opportunity to visit two countries at the same time," Terzi said.
