Airlines Propel Mexico's Tourism Rise TravelPulse Forty new direct routes to Mexico were introduced within the first five months of the year. The destination has also worked to increase flights within the country by improving connectivity and access to the states of Campeche, Yucatan, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Oaxaca through the Maya World ...

Airlines Propel Mexico's Tourism Rise TravelPulse Forty new direct routes to Mexico were introduced within the first five months of the year. The destination has also  worked to increase flights within the country by improving connectivity and access to the states of Campeche,  Yucatan, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Oaxaca through the Maya World ...

Last updated: 01:35 PM ET, Thu December 21 2017

Airlines Propel Mexico's Tourism Rise

AIRLINES & AIRPORTS  MEXICO TOURISM BOARD  PATRICK CLARKE  DECEMBER 21, 2017

PHOTO: Aeromexico and other domestic carriers accounted for half of capacity increases. (photo via Flickr/Eric Salard)

Direct flights to Mexico increased dramatically in 2017, and the rise in connectivity is helping drive the destination's impressive growth.

According to the Mexico Tourism Board (MTB), the country has added 2.6 million seats over the course of the year to reach 28 million overall. The growth, which includes new direct routes as well as additional seats added on existing routes, signals a stellar 10.2 percent jump over 2016.

Forty new direct routes to Mexico were introduced within the first five months of the year. The destination has also worked to increase flights within the country by improving connectivity and access to the states of Campeche, Yucatan, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Oaxaca through the Maya World initiative.

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Mexican carriers Aeromexico, Interjet and Volaris accounted for at least half of the increase in capacity, while international airlines—including the Big Four U.S. carriers—contributed to the remaining half.

Mexico City saw a majority of the expansion, accounting for roughly 37 percent of the new routes. The Mexican capital is a versatile destination for both business and leisure and is well positioned as the nation's primary international connection hub.

Popular tourist destinations like Cancun, Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos saw an increase in seats this year as well.

Cancun and the Riviera Maya will be especially popular this holiday season. According to Reportur.com, hotel occupancy in Cancun and nearby Puerto Morelos is forecast to reach 86.2 percent between December 21 and January 7, 2018.

"For this closing of the year we hope that we will reach the goal of number of visitors last year and we can even be 2 percent up; last year there were just over 4.7 million visitors and we hope to surpass that figure," said Cancun Convention & Visitors Bureau director, Lizzie Cole Guerrero.

Meanwhile, hotel occupancy of 86.5 percent is expected for Riviera Maya between those same holiday travel dates.

READ MORE: Mexico's Bold New Message for the World

"This continued growth in international air connectivity speaks to Mexico’s attractiveness as one of the world’s top tourism destinations and our continued potential to outperform the international tourism industry as a whole," said MTB CEO, Hector Flores in a statement.

"These new routes and expanded capacity will enable us to continue to grow share of travelers from established markets in North America and Europe, as well as expand in such high-potential markets as China, Japan and Korea."

The increased air connectivity has also bolstered Mexico's status as a premier destination for meetings and events. The MTB announced Wednesday that its 2017 Meetings and Events program led to 6.7 percent growth in the sector from January to October, compared to the same period during 2016.

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5 Things You Should Know About Meghan Markle's Mom POPSUGAR "We spent time travelling to remote places, taking trips to Oaxaca in southern Mexico where I saw children peddling Chiclets candy for a few extra pesos to bring home." She's a yogi. When Doria is not working as a clinical therapist, she is teaching yoga . . . classes that Meghan frequently joins.

5 Things You Should Know About Meghan Markle's Mom POPSUGAR "We spent time travelling to remote places, taking trips to Oaxaca in southern Mexico where I saw children peddling Chiclets candy for a few extra pesos to bring home." She's a yogi. When Doria is not working as a clinical therapist, she is teaching yoga . . . classes that Meghan frequently joins.

• POPSUGAR 
 
• Celebrity 
 
• Meghan Markle 

Who Is Meghan Markle's Mom?

5 Things You Should Know About Meghan Markle's Mom

December 22, 2017 by JOHNNI MACKE

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From the moment Meghan Markle began dating Prince Harry in 2016, her name and her personal life became a hot topic to just about everyone. Now that the happy couple is engaged and set to tie the knot in May of 2018, all of Meghan's life is on display, including where she comes from, and of course her parents.

While some people may know that the Suits actress comes from a divorced, bi-racial home, many people don't know much about who her parents are. The short version is that Meghan was born in Los Angeles to her parents, Doria Ragland and Thomas Markle in 1981, and although her parents split when she was young, she still has a relationship with each of them.

If you want to know more about Meghan's parents, specifically her mother, Doria, keep reading. Spoiler alert: Meghan and Doria are very close, and it's probably because they both are pretty cool ladies!

1. She's an LA lady. Doria met her now-ex-husband in Los Angeles in the 1970s, had Meghan in the same city, raised her in The Valley area, and to this day she still lives in LA. Doria herself was raised in LA, and according to her Facebook she attended Fairfax High School, before eventually getting a Master's from the University of Southern California. She currently resides in LA and has proved that she will always be an LA baby, because she's never left!
2. She's a free spirit. "For me to watch this level of life-long sensitivity to nurturing and caregiving, but at the same time my mom has always been a free spirit," Meghan told Glamour about her mom's balance between yoga and social work. "She's got dread locks and a nose ring. She just ran the LA Marathon. We can just have so much fun together, and yet, I'll still find so much solace in her support. That duality coexists the same way it would in a best friend."
3. Philanthropy is a family trait. While Meghan and Prince Harry might be in the limelight for their philanthropic work, it's clear that the actress got her drive to help others from her mom, who has a master's degree from the USC in social work. "My mum raised me to be a global citizen, with eyes open to sometimes harsh realities," Meghan previously wrote in a letter for ELLE UK. "We spent time travelling to remote places, taking trips to Oaxaca in southern Mexico where I saw children peddling Chiclets candy for a few extra pesos to bring home."
4. She's a yogi. When Doria is not working as a clinical therapist, she is teaching yoga . . . classes that Meghan frequently joins.
5. She approves of her daughter's engagement. After news of Meghan and Prince Harry's engagement broke, Doria and her ex-husband, Thomas, issued a statement of congratulations to the happy couple. Plus, she's spent time with her daughter and her fiancé on numerous occasions, and reportedly gave Harry her blessing to ask for Meghan's hand in marriage.

Image Source: Getty / Karwai Tang

Radish Night 2017 Planeta.com Oaxaca City, Mexico – 2017 is the 120th iteration of the annual Noche de Rábanos, aka Radish Night, which takes place on Saturday, December 23 in the downtown zócalo. For those who have not seen this in person, the experience can be delightful. Bonus points for those who chat with the artisans ...

home  2017, Mexico  Radish Night 2017

Radish Night 2017

 By Ron Mader   Posted in 2017 Mexico

 Posted on December 21, 2017

Oaxaca City, Mexico – 2017 is the 120th iteration of the annual Noche de Rábanos, aka Radish Night, which takes place on Saturday, December 23 in the downtown zócalo.

For those who have not seen this in person, the experience can be delightful. Bonus points for those who chat with the artisans and with locals who have intergenerational memories of this celebration.

Planeta.com will be updating this page with curated tweets, photos and videos. CORTV will provide livestreaming video for those of us unable to visit in person.

Who to follow on Twitter? @cortv, @TurismoCdOax

Hashtags: #120Años #EchandoRaíces #NocheDeRábanos #RaícesQueDejanHuella

About the event

La Noche de Rábanos (Radish Night) is celebrated on December 23rd and for more than a century has been a focal point of Christmas celebrations in Oaxaca. True to its name, the Radish Night festival lasts only a few hours as vegetables have a limited lifespan as folk art.

Questions = Preguntas

• How many artisans are participating in this year’s Noche de Rábanos? = ¿Cuántos artesanos están participando en la Noche de Rábanos de este año?
• How many visitors will attend this year’s Noche de Rábanos?
• How can we watch the live and archived videos? = ¿Cuántos visitantes asistirán a la Noche de Rábanos de este año?
• Are there remote viewing parties? = ¿Hay fiestas de observación remota (viewing parties)?
• What events can we look forward to in 2018? = ¿Qué eventos podemos esperar en 2018?
• Does ‘Cosecha de Rábanos’ 2017 have captions? An English-language translation? =
  ¿Tiene Cosecha de Rábanos 2017 leyendas? ¿Una traducción en inglés?

YouTube

The harvest of radishes takes place in the nursery of El Tequio Park (near the airport). Participating in the 2017 harvest were 61 artisans and gardeners.

Key Links
https://oaxacacity.mx/rabanos2017/nochederabanos_convocatoria_2017.pdf

Poster (Uriel Barranc)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/boulervsbarraganc

Wiki
Radish Night

Planeta.com

Radish Night 2017 By Ron Mader Posted in 2017 Mexico

COSECHA DE RÁBANOS

NOCHE DE RÁBANOS 2017 - PROMO

Google Oaxaca Daily update ⋅ December 22, 2017 NEWS The Oaxacan Christmas Celebration That's All About Radishes Extra Crispy Gingerbread houses can be awfully crusty, and not always in the golden brown sense of the word. The cookies get stale, the icing gathers dust, the whole thing gets sneezed on. In the central valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, they have an answer to this problem: build your charming yuletide food-art out of ...

The Oaxacan Christmas Celebration That’s All About Radishes

The tradition of Noche de Rábanos involves making dioramas from carved vegetables

ABBY WALTHAUSEN December 21, 2017

• CULTURE
• HOLIDAYS

Gingerbread houses can be awfully crusty, and not always in the golden brown sense of the word. The cookies get stale, the icing gathers dust, the whole thing gets sneezed on. In the central valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, they have an answer to this problem: build your charming yuletide food-art out of radishes. On one magical night each December, Halloween, Christmas, and general partying combine as radishes are carved up like something between a jack-o-lantern, a gingerbread village, and an edible arrangement.

The biggest Noche de Rábanos, or Night of the Radishes, takes place each December 23rd in Oaxaca City’s central square, or zócalo. The massive festival includes a competition for best carving, a large cash prize, and viewing platforms along which some 100,000 locals and tourists file past the lush, tuberous dioramas. But the origins of the festival are much more humble. Official records date back to 1897, when farmers selling produce at the municipal market wanted to up their display game Christmas shoppers. Some say the tradition of carving radishes dates back even further, that carving was born of the hard-sell a 15th century Spanish priest tried to spark interest in the non-native plant. As they say, when life gives you radishes, make a centerpiece.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ABBY WALTHAUSEN

In spite of Noche de Rábanos’ longstanding popularity in Oaxaca, it has remained a relatively regional festival in Mexico, and one that went unmarked in the US until recently. In 2009, restaurant owners at South Central’s Mercado La Paloma teamed up with the organization Esperanza Community Housing to create their own LA-based Noche de Rábanos. The event has grown in scale each year, including bands, folk dances, stalls selling seasonal sweets like ponche and buñuelos, and of course, radish carving. Though it was not too hard to attract attendees from Los Angeles’ sizeable Oaxacan community, it is apparently hard to get one’s hands on some of the supplies, like flor inmortal, tiny dried flowers native to Oaxaca which are often used to decorate the carvings. Juan Antonio and Sophia, proprietors of the Mercado’s Oaxacalifornia Cafe & Juice Bar, had to source larger, carvable radishes specifically for the event. Although the six inch red radishes they managed to get for this year’s festival seemed enormous, apparently they are nothing compared to the Oaxacan radishes cultivated especially for Noche de rábanos which can clock in at fifteen inches, and are particularly good for constructing cathedrals. 

Most of the Oaxacans who attend this event have not carved competitively before—back home they leave it to the farmers—but there are plenty of old timers ready to try their hand because they know exactly how the figures are supposed to look. Yadira Arvelo, one of the event’s organizers, tells me that every year she hears older Oaxacans complain about the carvings of their young, Americanized children and grandchildren. Traditional radish carvings usually include scenes of folk life like dances from La Guelaguetza, another huge regional festival, or religious themes. But this year, alongside the chalice and the host, mixed in among the nativity scenes, there is a toy train entitled “Mi Infancia,” a little cluster of dinosaurs called “Age Dino,” and a snowman that does a surprisingly good job capturing the awkward oval snow-torso of Olaf, from Pixar’s Frozen.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ABBY WALTHAUSEN

Still, at Noche de Rábanos, tradition prevails. The winning piece is a scene executed with labor from a whole family, incorporating at least a dozen different radishes. First, there is the band, playing tiny radish instruments, wearing cornhusks wrapped around their heads like little turbans. They play “Las Mañanitas,” a birthday song that is traditionally sung  sung, complete with a band, to the birthday person at the moment of waking. In this scene, though, the birthday girl is actually a miraculous statue of the Virgin Mary from the rural town of Amialtepec. 

At the end of the night a musician stops by, unplanned, to play music from his hometown in the Mixteca region of Oaxaca. The sound is an unusual follow-up to the folk classics that were performed earlier in the night like the Flor de Piña dance: this musician plays a horn, sings in a regional falsetto style called “lamento Triqui.” The lyrics are in a little-used tribal language, and the audience is wowed by the impromptu performance. The MC wishes a goodnight and reminds the cheering crowd that Noche de rábanos is an important festival—the 10th most important festival! In Oaxaca! In the month of December! The holiday season is a busy one everywhere and Noche de Rábanos might just be the eve-of-Christmas-eve breather that the cookie-d out revelers need. Santa, a plate of radishes this year to balance things out?

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Why Mexico Still Excites Me After 10 Years Living Here International Living They probably think of Oaxaca (where I bought table linens and handmade rugs, and sincerely wished I'd brought a U-Haul for more) or San Cristóbal de las Casas. Nor is it a great center for commercially made household goods (go to Tonalá and Tlaquepaque, outside Guadalajara, for those).

Why Mexico Still Excites Me After 10 Years Living Here International Living They probably think of Oaxaca (where I bought table linens and handmade rugs, and sincerely wished I'd brought a U-Haul for more) or San Cristóbal de las Casas. Nor is it a great center for commercially made household goods (go to Tonalá and Tlaquepaque, outside Guadalajara, for those).

Why Mexico Still Excites Me After 10 Years Living Here

This past spring, I traveled around Mexico to buy furnishings for the new upstairs of my house in Guanajuato, in Mexico’s Colonial Highlands. I’d decided that I was going to completely furnish the space with handcrafted items, and I have.

Several trips were to the nearby state of Michoacán. Folks outside Mexico don’t necessarily think of Michoacán for handicrafts. They probably think of Oaxaca (where I bought table linens and handmade rugs, and sincerely wished I’d brought a U-Haul for more) or San Cristóbal de las Casas. Nor is it a great center for commercially made household goods (go to Tonalá and Tlaquepaque, outside Guadalajara, for those).

But the fact is, when you live in Mexico, you find wonders—handicraft villages, ancient ruins, fabulous markets, superb local festivals—everywhere. And exploring this staggering richness is one of the joys of living here.

On my buying trips, the journey itself was half the fun. Friends and I would set out for a two- or three-day trip…and certain things on our agenda were sacred. First, we always stopped right away for a snack. Guanajuato State is Mexico’s strawberry capital, and stalls line the highway outside town, advertising fresh strawberries and cream. We have a favorite stall, where a big plastic cup of strawberries and fresh cream, lightly dusted with sugar, costs just over $1. As a midmorning snack, it can’t be beat.

In Pátzcuaro, a lovely Spanish-colonial city, we stay at an aging, colonial-style hotel that is slightly rundown but centrally located…and where double rooms (with a king-size bed) run about $25 a night and singles about $15. (Someday someone will buy this hotel and tart it up…and it will probably lose its authentic, down-at-heels charm.)

From Pátzcuaro we hit all the nearby villages…the one that specializes in furniture, the one that does wicker, the “copper village,” the market with the best wooden spoons around… And we stop to eat at favorite places, like the out-of-the-way village with the out-of-this-world turkey mole. (Lunch for four—two enormous handmade, corn-tortilla tacos apiece—cost $12. The homemade pickled peppers—we ate the whole jar—were free.) We end the day with dinner at a restaurant where the waiters know us, our favorite red wine is always available, and where the steaks are cooked exactly the way we like them.

I discovered similarly “favorite places” when I lived in the Yucatán Peninsula. I visited Maya ruins and nature areas that are featured only in the most detailed, specialized guidebooks—if at all. I know a place in the little village of Muna where an artist makes museum-quality replicas of Maya pottery…and if you’re lucky, cochinita pibil—pork in pibil sauce, one of the glories of Yucatecan cooking—is on the lunch menu.

My experience is far from unique; expats in any of Mexico’s many expat havens can speak eloquently of colorful, special, favorite places near them. And no matter how many of these special places you find, there always seem to be more—Mexico is that big. After living here more than 10 years, I’ve reconciled myself to having a bucket list that grows eternally longer, not shorter. (Just ask me about that kayak trip down the coast of Baja California Sur, on the Sea of Cortez, that I’ve long dreamed of doing.)

So, brace yourself: When you move to Mexico, you, too, will find yourself making ever-longer bucket lists.

So much to see, so little time. It’s a good problem to have.

14 tonnes of radishes harvested for festival The Night of the Radishes takes place Saturday in Oaxaca

14 tonnes of radishes harvested for festival

The Night of the Radishes takes place Saturday in Oaxaca

Mexico News Daily | Wednesday, December 20, 2017

It’s time for radishes in Oaxaca.

This year marks the 120th edition of the traditional Noche de Rábanos, or Night of the Radishes, when growers from the central valleys of Oaxaca gather in the capital city and display not just carved radishes but weird specimens of the tuber that can be up to 50 centimeters long and weigh up to three kilograms.

This year, a farmer from San Antonino Castillo Velasco showed reporters from the newspaper Milenio a radish that resembled a hand.

“I present you this hand, it came out complete, five fingers and all. How great is God under the earth, designing everything for us. [The radishes] are joined together. Why? Because he wants us to be together, the times are going to be difficult but we’ll be together,” said Francisca Lidia Sánchez Mateos.

She was speaking on the day of the harvest, when 14 tonnes of radishes were collected from a municipal parcel of land in the El Tequio park.

“Thanks to the government of Oaxaca that grants us this parcel of land, we’ve got something to eat every day and we keep the craft alive,” Sánchez said.

Those crafts are folk art creations that will be on display for one night only. On Saturday, 143 radish producers — including 82 children — will set up their skillfully carved radish figures at more than 100 stands installed around the Oaxaca city zócalo.

Also on display will be creations made with totomoxtle, or dried corn husks, and with flor inmortal, or immortal flower, a local flower that dries quickly and keeps most of its characteristic deep violet color. Thirteen people signed up for the first category, while 12 will be participating with immortal flower creations.

Visitors can see entire scenes created with radishes, flowers and totomoxtle starting in the late afternoon. The whole event concludes with the awarding of the best displays in the early evening.

The popularity of the event and the fame of the farmers’ creations will draw a large number of Oaxaca citizens and visitors to the city’s main square.

Source: Milenio (sp)

Ocean View Bungalow Zipolite Private room in bungalow · Zipolite

Ocean View Bungalow Zipolite Airbnb Dec 20, 2017 - Private room for ₹5276. Come relax in our beautiful ocean view bungalow just a 5-minute walk from the beach and Zipolite's downtown (known as Roca Blanca) with all its sto...

Zipolite or more calm beach town? Dec 20, 2017, 6:30 PM

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g1515813-i15483-k11094148-Zipolite_or_more_calm_beach_town-Zipolite_Southern_Mexico.html

betty g

New York City, New...

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Zipolite or more calm beach town?

Dec 20, 2017, 6:30 PM

Hi! My boyfriend and I are thinking of going to Mexico this winter, late December/early Jan, and we were thinking of Zipolite - but will it be swamped? Does anyone have any rec's for quieter beach towns in Mexico?

1 reply

SML-WJL

Victoria, Canada

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 106 posts

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1. Re: Zipolite or more calm beach town?

Dec 20, 2017, 9:04 PM

Puerto Angel is quiet and San Augustanillo is really quiet or try Puerto Escondido a bigger place but parts are quiet, however it sounds like Christmas and New Years will be your time and that is usually happy chaos for 1000,s of Mexicains as they ' head for the beaches.'After New Years it will calm down.

Edited: 9:05 pm, yesterday

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Puerto Angel

Oaxaca, Southern Mexico, Mexico

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