A general view of the Kukulkan Pyramid during the "Nights of Kukulkan" sound and light show at the archaeological zone of Chichen Itza in Yucatan state, Mexico, December 10, 2014. [Photo by LORENZO HERNANDEZ / REUTERS]

Mexico is committed to attracting more Chinese travelers this year, especially residents of the Pearl River Delta, according to Jose Alberto Limas, acting consul general of the Consulate General of Mexico in Guangzhou.

This year was officially designated as the Year of Mexican Tourism in China, one of several mutual cooperation agreements reached between President Xi Jinping and his Mexican counterpart Enrique Pena Nieto during the Mexican president's visit to China at the latter part of last year.

Tourism between China and Mexico has rapidly developed and seen two-digit growth in the past two years. According to the latest figures, during the first 11 months in 2014, there were more than 63,000 Chinese travelers who paid a visit to the North American country and it is estimated the annual number would reach 70,000, with a year-on-year increase of 25 percent.

As many as 70 percent of the total 100 million outbound Chinese tourists in 2013 chose Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan as their first choices. Among the remainder 30 million, 31 percent traveled to destinations farther from Asia. It suggests that in 2013, there were 5.6 million Chinese travelers willing to fly more than 10 hours to particular destinations, yet with only 1 percent traveling to Mexico.

"All the statistics show that our tourism is very vibrant," said the acting consul general. "But we also noticed that there is still a greater potential in the Chinese market."

To welcome the year with a good start and present more of the country's attractiveness to the Chinese public, the Consulate General of Mexico will work in cooperation with the Mexico Tourism Board to participate in the 2015 Guangzhou International Travel Fair, which will be held from March 6 to 8 in Guangdong province.

Also, the consulate general will organize a series of activities promoting Mexican culture, tourism and food, especially targeting the residents in southern China.

Aeromexico, Mexico's global airline and the only airline in Latin America that offers regular and direct flights to Asia, recently released the latest direct flight schedule for this year. The airline will add one more flight between the two countries every week, which means that there will be three direct flights a week flying from Shanghai to Mexico.

To attract more Chinese tourists traveling to Mexico, the airline has also come up with promotional flights, with a round-trip ticket costing 8,000 yuan ($1,280), tax included.

xiaolixin@chinadaily.com.cn