Yuma County and Mexican Visitors

In the area of Yuma County, visitors who were Mexican ended up spending about $2.2 billion on a number of different things within the county, ranging from food to clothing, as well as activities and different sources of entertainment. With so much spending from these individuals, there were about 2,000 jobs that were created within the county. And while it is obvious that Mexican visitors are, in fact, a targeted market, it seems as though many of the businesses in Yuma are not working on ways to engage these visitors and get them interested in what they have to offer.

The Vice President for Strategic Partnerships and Mexico Marketing, Felipe Garcia, informed businesses that they do have the ability to attract these visitors and ultimately have more success for their own business. She pointed out that Mexican visitors want to do business with the people in Yuma County, especially since the area is full of different restaurants, stores and shops. She says that while there are so many restaurants and shops within the county, it is the responsibility of the business owner to do what they can to attract Mexican visitors and bring them on into the store. Because of this, Garcia talked about a number of steps that business owners could take to help bring in more Mexican visitors to their business.

Garcia stated that it is important to greet Mexican visitors, speaking first to the oldest individual within the group first, as this is a Mexican tradition. She also said that it is important to be family oriented and ask these individuals about their family. Having friendly conversation never hurts and is a great way of increasing business while increase the number of Mexican visitors that these smaller businesses receive. Garcia said that staff members should always offer to assist the Mexican visitors and, of course, any visitors but says that businesses should be willing and wanting to hire employees who are bilingual and can translate back and forth if necessary. With a language barrier, it can be hard to actually communicate with the Mexican visitors, which may make them feel uncomfortable or unwanted.

Garcia also pointed out the importance of being willing to accommodate the visitors and being willing to help them in different ways so that they feel a sense of comfort and trust. Promoting a business in the Mexico area would also make sense, as this a way for the Mexican families to see advertisements for your business and learn more about what the business has to offer to them. By doing so, they will more than likely check out the business. Garcia says it is generally easy to make Mexican visitors feel more welcome and urges the businesses in Yuma County to do just that.