Destinations for Business Events in Jalisco

In my previous blog post, we talked about the main places in Latin America, specially in Mexico, that offer unique experiences for business events, meetings and incentives, without discarding social events.

One of these places is the state of Jalisco, where the second most important city in Mexico, Guadalajara, is located. Jalisco is experiencing an increasing offer of accommodations and lodging, as well as the opening of more air routes that favor the connectivity with other places. Its innovative gastronomic proposal is also growing and the distinctive elements of our Mexican culture, such as mariachi and tequila, are from this state. For all of these reasons -and more!- Jalisco becomes a compelling destination for business events in Mexico.

In this blog post, you will find the 3 most attractive destinations for business events in Jalisco.

Attributes that a place should have in order to be considered a destination fit for business events

• Good quality and diverse gastronomical offer
• Good quality and diverse lodging offer close to the even'ts venue
• Adequate rooms for audiovisual projections and presentations.
• Outdoor sites
• Alternative leisure offer
• Wi Fi service
• Good location and transportation
• Other services such as furniture and simultaneous translation

This attributes can be decisive when choosing a site that would satisfy the client's needs. Based on this premises, there are 3 places in Jalisco that, according to my point of view, fulfill these requirements:

• Guadalajara
• Tlaquepaque
• Tequila

Guadalajara as a destination for business events

Guadalajara, the best place for business tourism, has become one of the most attractive cities for this branch of tourism. Its infrastructure has evolved favorably and thus, has positively affected those crucial aspects one has to consider when it comes to business tourism, such as accommodation and connectivity. There are other benefits that Guadalajara offers, which are, among many others, its gastronomy, cultural sites, historical richness, weather and, why not, even its beautiful women.

Guadalajara is home to the largest convention center of Mexico and the second largest one in Latin America: Expo Guadalajara. It offers an area of 119,000 square meters. The latest venue that has recently been added to this city and is becoming a great option for congresses and conventions is PALCCO, The Culture and Communications Palace. PALCCO has great areas such as Sidral Aga Forum, with a capacity of 3,500 people, or the Teatro de Camara, for smaller groups.

If your event doesn't require such large spaces plus you are looking to create more of a community ambiance, while saving time and money, there are many hotels that have conferences and conventions rooms. This option will also help you avoid mobility problems inside the city and will keep your team together right at their working venue.

Hotel Fiesta Americana Guadalajara is one of the most prestigious hotels of the Posadas Group. It offers 391 recently remodeled rooms, as well as 4,800 square meters for events or congresses. In addition, its location is second to none. Standing right by the Minerva monument, which is perhaps the most emblematic monument of this beautiful city, it's connectivity with many other sites of the city couldn't be better. It also offers great meals plans which, in my opinion, are quite varied and of great quality.

Tlaquepaque as a destination for business events

Tlaquepaque is a city and municipality of the state of Jalisco located 16 kilometers away from the airport of Guadalajara. It is one of the Mexican cities with the greatest artisan tradition and with beautiful tourist attractions. El Refugio is an iconic building of this city. It occupies an area of almost 1000 square meters and was originally a convent that later became a hospital and then a house for spiritual retreats. Since 1985, it has been working as The House of Culture, hosting events and exhibitions that relate to different branches of art.

Tlaquepaque has all the services needed in order to be considered a great option for leisure tourism or for business tourism as well. There are around 20 different hotels in this city, 13 of which are of a "Boutique Hotel" category and mostly located downtown. The other 7 hotels are chain hotels and they are located in surrounding areas of Tlaquepaque. You can also find more than 50 restaurants, most of them of traditional Mexican food, yet, some other offer contemporary gastronomy menus. About Tlaquepaque's nightlife, you will find around 28 different bars and cafeterias, all of them of very different kinds. This city is very close to El Salto corridor, which is an industrial corridor where we find very prominent manufacturing and electronic companies. In addition to all the above, Tlaquepaque is the cradle of art, pottery and handicrafts. You will find more than 100 shops and art galleries where you can buy unique pieces at very affordable prices.

Tequila as a destination for business events

Tequila is a municipality of Jalisco and one of the "Magical Towns" of our state. It was founded in 1530 by a Franciscan Friar and it was first named Santiago de Tequila. The word Tequila has its roots in the Nahuatl Tekilan, which has several meanings: work, trade, employment, errand. I particularly like how Jorge Munguía defines it in his "Nahuatl Toponymy of Jalisco" book, as the "place where it gets cut". This description makes sense since it is natural to find Obisidian rocks in this area, given its location between valleys and its proximity to the volcano. This rock has been here for many years and indians used it to produce hunting tools such as spears and knives. This is why it is said that this was the place where the rock was cut.

Aside from having the charms that a Magic Town offers, such as cobbled streets, or the houses' coinciding roofs, as well as other attributes that give magic to the place overall, Tequila is also an important traveling destination in Jalisco and in Mexico. Not only because its name makes reference to tequila, the drink that was considered the "elixir of the gods" by our ancestors, but because there are in this place two of the largest tequila producers in the world, in addition to its amazing Agave Landscape, considered a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2006.

Tequila, like the other municipalities that I mentioned before, has an infrastructure and characteristics that favor the organization of incentives and businesses events. If you are interested in knowing what does the Tequila Valley has to offer for your next event, do not forget to visit my next blog.