In the world’s very crossing, the emblematic letters of Cancun were planted between neons and crowds to shout to the planet that Mexico is more alive, attractive and hospitable than ever. This is the story of how a tourist hostel of the Mexican Caribbean toured 5,400 kilometers to become a visual ambassador to the global epicenter of advertising.
The letters of Cancun landed on Times Square, that place where it smells like Pretzels, sounds like street jazz and vibrate the most expensive screens in the world. Everything stimulates, everything competes to capture a look. But on May 5, between the Broadway lights and the constant murmur of thousands of visitors, a corner was transformed: it was filled with Mariachi, folk dance and Mexican colors. The iconic giant letters of Cancun – yes, the same ones that pose with tourists in the Caribbean – arrived at the heart of New York to stay a few days and, with it, strain Mexico in the global conversation of tourism with a visual power impossible to ignore.
The person responsible for this street marketing master coup was the mayor of Cancun, Ana Paty Peralta, who traveled to Manhattan to inaugurate the installation and remind the world that his city turns 55 years breaking down records of visitors. “Cancun is a destination with soul and heart,” he said in front of cameras, curious tourists and excited national, while cutting the bar next to the assigned consul of Mexico in New York, Joaquín Gerardo Pastrana Uranga, and the municipal secretary of Tourism, Juan Pablo de Zulueta Razo.
The strategy was not improvised. The letters had already stopped in Madrid, during the International Tourism Fair last January, where they also became the point of selfies and symbol of the new era of Mexican tourism. His arrival at Times Square – a area that receives more than 500 thousand people a day – makes Cancun a live postcard into one of the most coveted showcases on the planet.
“We want more tourists, more employment and more shared prosperity,” said the mayor. The message is not less. With direct air connection to more than 134 cities in the world, Cancun is no longer a jewel of the Caribbean: it is a country brand. Only with New York maintains 11 daily frequencies, a figure that reveals the intensity of the tourist bridge between both cities.
But beyond hard data, there is a powerful symbol to see those multicolored letters between Coca-Cola, Disney or Samsung screens. It is a statement: Mexico is here, not as a country that asks for attention, but as one that offers unforgettable experiences.
The May 5 election as a date was not accidental. While in Mexico the commemoration of the battle of Puebla goes almost unnoticed, in the United States it has become a celebration of Mexican culture and, why not, in an opportunity to reaffirm the bilateral relationship from the festive. That same day, Peralta also participated in the event organized by the Mexico – United States Chamber of Commerce, where business leaders gathered to celebrate, do business and strengthen alliances.
“This is not just an act of tourism promotion, it is an emotional and cultural bridge,” said the mayor. And it was: in the center of the New York asphalt, a mariachi touched “caded cute”, children danced syrup tapatío and many passersby – mexicans or not – stopped, curious, to take photos, ask and smile. Because Cancun, after all, not only sells beaches: it sells identity, warmth and a way of living the world.
The initiative will not stop here. According to Peralta, the campaign will continue in other iconic cities on the planet. The Cancun brand, he says, will be increasingly visible, more powerful. And, in these times where the image is everything, that can make the difference between being one more destiny or being destiny.
Today, from the very center of one of the most demanding cities in the world, Cancun did not ask permission. It was simply present. With his high lyrics, his intense colors and an open invitation: “We are with open arms to visit us.”
And if something was clear on May 5, it is that trips also dream from a photo. And what better than that photo is in Times Square, next to six letters that say everything: Cancun. By: Nahuel Leto
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