RON MADER'S UNUSUAL MEXICO LINKS
(Mexico on the Web)

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Journalist and savvy webmaster Ron Mader sifts through the web to find the most interesting and unusual Mexico-related websites. Ron is the webhost of the popular Planeta.com: Eco Travels in Latin America website -- http://www.planeta.com -- and has written about the internet since the early 1990s.

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GOVERNMENT TOURISM SITES
When it comes to tourist information on the Web, Mexico falls short

Mexican officials boast that tourism is one of the country's leading sources of income, so it comes as a surprise to see that so many government tourism websites are either obsolete or bereft of content.

When I first reviewed tourism websites in 1998, I noted that on-line information about Mexican tourism tends to be a glitzy review of the country's coastal resorts. The Internet is used as a brochure and not a particularly good one. Unfortunately, that reflection still holds true, and if anything, the official websites have only gotten worse. These sites seem plagued by a lack of continuity (see Safemexico.com below) or the absence of links to other government agencies (particularly at the state and municipal level), to travel providers or even to other areas within their own organization.

One such example is the Tianguis Turístico Website. A web search reveals that the 2000 Website, www.tianguisacapulco.com.mx, has no link to the 2001 event (www.tianguisacapulco.com). It's easy to get lost on the Web, but there is no reason why we should lose our way within a tourism website!

Visitmexico.com

www.visitmexico.com /5 Stars

This multilingual site is the most useful of the current stock of official websites, but even so, it doesn't have much substance. Animation introduces the site, which slows the connection. Also, it's unclear who runs the site or what its purpose is. The press center (www.visitmexicopress.com) is two months out-of-date and there is no directory of outside links (such as Mexican travel agents, tourism associations or individual guides). On the plus side, there are nice pictures. No doubt this site looks lovely on a CD-Rom, but as a website it's simply too slow to be useful to travelers or investors.

Secretariat of Tourism

mexico-travel.com /5 Stars

The Presidencia website (www.precisa.gob.mx/index.php) recognizes Mexico-travel.com as the official Sectur website though it has not been updated since last year. While current information is lacking, the site offers an abundance of information that requires surfing the site's search engine. Most useful for researchers, the site has great potential if it is ever updated.

FONATUR

www.fonatur.gob.mx/
/5 Stars

Mexico's "Tourism Business Center" is another lackluster website from a prestigious and influential government entity: The home page is a mass of dead links. In fact, the only two links that work are to land sales (www.fonatur.gob.mx/frames/hom/nofertas/index.html) and to a page about Fonatur (www.fonatur.gob.mx/frames/hom/framesfona_p.html) that only prompts an error message. I was hoping to find press releases, but the site doesn't have a single email contact.

Don't visit this site at work! - Safemexico.com

In 1999 Sectur and public relations company Edelman made great fanfare about an innovative website that briefed travelers about safety issues in Mexico. The site provided a useful tool. The only problem was that the site was never updated. Until early 2001, Safemexico.com still boasted a picture of smiling ex-Tourism Secretary Oscar Espinoza (currently facing a legal battle on embezzlement charges) on its home page. The site has since come down, but curiously, the URL now serves as a gateway to a soft porn website. ¡Qué vergüenza!

Mexico's Tourism Promotion Board

www.cptm-administracion.com.mx/
/5 Stars

This website has absolutely no content - or none that can be accessed from the home page. The Board - or Consejo - is a fairly new entity in Mexico and perhaps it is only a matter of time before the links work. Still, for a promotional entity, this site is a big disappointment. It is also designed specifically for MS Explorer, so all you Netscape fans won't be able to waste your time here anyway.

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