The group Visit Tucsonโs next trade show trip will take participants to the Sonoran cities of Guaymas and San Carlos โ just in time to reach shoppers thinking about how theyโll spend their Christmas bonuses.
By law, Mexican workers with more than a year of employment must receive at least two weeksโ pay as a holiday bonus โ with some getting up to a monthโs salary โ no later than Dec. 20. At least half the bonus is usually paid the first week of December, said Felipe Garcia, Visit Tucsonโs executive vice president.
โItโs a great opportunity for us to take advantage of that. That bonus is ideal for us, that they have that extra money for shopping,โ he said. The trip goes to Guaymas on Nov. 6 and San Carlos on Nov. 7.
Helping Southern Arizona companies develop a relationship with Mexican shoppers is the main goal for Visit Tucsonโs consumer trade shows in Mexico.
โItโs an opportunity to be face to face with your target audience, let yourself be known, and invite them to your business,โ said Laura Sepulveda, marketing consultant with Casino del Sol.
Making that connection is key when dealing with a Mexican audience, she said.
โThe Mexican client is very loyal. Once they know someone, they have a name, a face they can identify โ theyโll be your clients for life.โ
For businesses, the trade show experience involves setting up at a table or booth and interacting with potential customers about their products or services. The event also features raffles and prize giveaways.
Participants are usually able to reach about 1,000 people directly, officials said.
Visit Tucson has been making trade show trips to Mexico for about 14 years, Garcia said. It usually makes two multicity trips every year.
Taking part in a trade show trip is definitely worthwhile, said Brighid Brown, marketing director for General Growth Properties, which manages Tucson Mall and Park Place Mall.
Brown said mall officials travel with Visit Tucson in the spring and in the fall with the Arizona Office of Tourism, which held its Arizona Showcase in Hermosillo, Sonora, earlier this month.
โThese shows really allow us to reach a core shopping demographic. The Mexican national customer is a huge customer base for us,โ she said.
Mexican nationals make up about 35 percent of all traffic and sales at Tucson and Park Place malls, Brown said.
Mexican visitors to Arizona spend about $7 million a day at Arizona businesses, a University of Arizona study found.
โA company thatโs not taking Mexican consumers into account is leaving money on the table,โ Sepulveda said. โItโs crucial in a market like Tucson that you take people from Sonora and Sinaloa into consideration.โ
While taking part in a trade show trip to Mexico can net you immediate results, she said, first-time participants shouldnโt be discouraged if an initial outing is less successful.
โTheir first time out, they may have an offer that the client isnโt really interested in, but even then itโs an opportunity to get to know the audience, learn what it wants, and what it needs from you,โ Sepulveda said.
A possible worry is the strong U.S. dollar, which closed the week at 16.37 pesos per dollar, curtailing Mexican spending.
While it has affected sales in Tucson, Garcia said, itโs a phenomenon that Mexico has gone through many times.
โMexicans are used to this kind of change, and we know how to work around this. We also know that this will eventually affect prices in Mexico, which will make coming to the U.S. to shop more attractive, even with the exchange rate,โ he said.
If anything, with Mexican customers still coming but spending less, making that connection at a trade show becomes more important, officials said.
โWe know that the Mexican consumer will come and spend money. We want to offer them good products and fair prices so their money goes farther when theyโre here in Tucson,โ Garcia said.
