{"id":370,"date":"2010-09-21T22:59:56","date_gmt":"2010-09-22T03:59:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johnstrawn.com\/?p=370"},"modified":"2010-09-25T07:30:48","modified_gmt":"2010-09-25T12:30:48","slug":"the-mexican-resort-development-conference-the-resurrection-of-optimism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/golf\/instruction\/370\/the-mexican-resort-development-conference-the-resurrection-of-optimism","title":{"rendered":"The Mexican Resort Development Conference: The Resurrection of Optimism."},"content":{"rendered":"

A surprisingly optimistic mood prevailed at the Mexican Resort Development conference held\u00a0on September 12-14 in downtown\u00a0San Diego’s Hard Rock Hotel.\u00a0\u00a0The event was highlighted by golfing great\u00a0Lorena Ochoa\u2019s appearance as keynote speaker on the final day, underscoring the significance of golf as a driver of high-end Mexican tourism.\u00a0\u00a0 That the conference was\u00a0convened at all\u00a0was good news of a sort, because in 2009\u00a0such a gloomy outlook prevailed\u00a0among Mexican developers, investors and consultants that the conference\u2019s co-organizers, Contact Development Company <\/a>and the international law firm, Baker& McKenzie<\/a>, <\/em>decided to postpone it for at least a year.\u00a0 \u00a0Since the conference was first convened in 2005, according to CDC’s president, Brett Ellsworth, and his colleague and co-host, Jose M. Larroque, a partner specialising in real\u00a0estate\u00a0transations and their tax consquences at Baker & McKenzie,\u00a0\u00a0its goal has been\u00a0not only\u00a0to educate its audience about opportunities and challenges in Mexico,\u00a0but\u00a0also\u00a0to\u00a0provide a forum for\u00a0fostering\u00a0new business relationships.\u00a0\u00a0 Trust and collaboration across national borders is especially important now that tourism is a global phenomenon with new destinations\u00a0competing for tourist dollars cropping up every year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The irony in the current economic situation in Mexican real estate\u00a0is that the problems it faces were not\u00a0homemade, but rather\u00a0descended on Mexico from north of the border, where leveraged banks taking extraordinary risks brought the world\u2019s economy to its knees.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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La Paz, Baja Sur--A Developing Destination in Mexico<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mexico\u2019s real estate sector was not overly leveraged, for a variety of reasons, including mortgage rules and\u00a0expensive money.\u00a0 Mexican banking did not collapse in the wake of America\u2019s credit crisis, although for sure it was affected by it.\u00a0 All of the experts at the conference agreed that Mexico\u2019s banks are solid, and investors and developers both have tended to take a more conservative\u2014that is, less leveraged\u2014view.\u00a0 What was most striking was the number of builders and developers reporting strong and steady sales, primarily to Mexican buyers, although at average prices considerably below what consumers were spending at the peak of the US property bubble.\u00a0<\/p>\n

American buyers were using the equity in their primary residences as the source of funds to buy houses in Mexico before the bust.\u00a0 That\u2019s not happening anymore, and prices have declined as a result.\u00a0 Smaller units selling for less is now the norm.\u00a0 <\/em>Lots of Americans are still moving to Mexico, especially retirees. \u00a0But where in the past it was the attraction of great weather, lower cost of living, great beaches and natural attractions, and a culture rich in history, arts and cuisine, the new movement of gringos south of the border may result from a push rather than a pull.\u00a0 Several speakers pointed out that baby boomers who were thumped by the recession may simply not be able to afford to live in the US during their retirement.\u00a0 Mexico is an attractive, affordable alternative, especially if Medicare approves payment for medical services in Mexico.\u00a0 President Calderon has proposed this, and it makes a lot of sense, which probably means that no American politician will take it seriously\u2014it\u2019s much too rational.\u00a0 But it would take a burden off the US health-care system, which like the banking sector is already administratively top-heavy from so many hands in the pie, and put patients into a system which has salaried doctors and a single-payer system.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The question of whether or not tourism has been affected by the narco-wars was also much-discussed.\u00a0 Everyone agreed that the perception of endemic violence in Mexico has absolutely hurt tourism.\u00a0 But a further question was raised about whether or not the violence itself had a direct impact on tourists\u2014specifically, have tourists been caught up in gun battles?\u00a0 Here the answer was equally unequivocal: absolutely not.\u00a0 Bruce Greenberg, a prominent appraiser based in Tuscon who has worked in Mexican real estate for decades, reported that 98% of all the casualties of the violence has involved people with direct links either to the drug trade, or among the police and army fighting the narcotraficantes<\/em>.\u00a0 That still leaves 2% as \u201cinnocent victims,\u201d or more than 500 people, an unacceptable number by any reckoning.\u00a0 But as several speakers were eager to point out, tourists are no more at risk in Puerto Vallarta or Los Cabos than they would be in Washington DC or New York City, despite the fact that Mexico\u2019s overall homicide rate is higher than the US\u2019s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A number of experts in the new arena of social media addressed the conference, introducing entirely new ways of promoting projects.\u00a0\u00a0 It was well understood by all the delegates that the internet had revolutionized the purchase of real estate, and the old hard-sell models were extinct and would never return.\u00a0 Buyers today are cautious, incredible well-informed, and impervious to sales pitches.\u00a0\u00a0 Developers can foster the creation of virtual communities to address doubts among by buyers by connecting to already satisfied customers.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Buyers are looking for evidence that authentic experiences will be available with their purchase.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Developers who understand social media\u00a0have a means of providing\u00a0virtual word of mouth, the most powerful endorsement for almost any\u00a0consumer.\u00a0 \u00a0Michael Coyle, for example, insisted that any successful development in the future will have to “sell the truth.”\u00a0\u00a0 To convey what that truth is, he said, developers and their sales personnel must have a genuine “spine-tingling” story.\u00a0 Sellers are no longer in control of buyers who have free access to infinite amounts of information.\u00a0 To cut through clutter, sellers must be able to convince buyers that they are serious about, for example, their commitment to sustainability and other socially responsible measures.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jason McCoy of Greg Norman Design and I were on a panel discussing resort amenities.\u00a0 Golf development, too, has slowed in the wake of the recession, but here, too, there were expressions of optimism.\u00a0 Both McCoy and I believe the downturn may provide an opportunity to get away from grandiose schemes building expensively landscaped golf courses on a large footprint, and in their place substitute six hole or twelve hole courses, or even an eccentric number if they fit the site.\u00a0 This approach harkens back to the roots of golf in Scotland, when towns built golf courses based on the land available and the number of holes was random.\u00a0 Most people on family holiday can\u2019t take the time to play 18 holes, so providing family fun on the golf course over a two hour span on a nine hole course makes sense to Jason and me and many others in our profession.\u00a0 For ideas such as this to catch on, however, we need to rethink what golf is as a game.\u00a0 Not the basic rules or the skills required to play well, but how the game is perceived\u2014what its purpose is.\u00a0 There is no reason at all a person couldn\u2019t develop a perfectly fine set of playing skills on a six hole course, especially if there is a good practice facility connected to it. And there\u2019s no question that a shorter course but with fully designed and challenging holes could be a great amenity at a resort, and save on land costs and maintenance costs to boot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Lorena at the Samsung World Championship, Half Moon Bay Golf's Ocean Course, 2008<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Keynote speaker Lorena Ochoa was gracious and charming and as much a star sitting demurely on stage answering questions as she been on the golf course over the last decade.\u00a0 Recently retired and married (her husband is Andres Conesa, the CEO of AeroMexico), Lorena has not abandoned golf entirely, but she has forsaken competitive, championship golf, for the simple reason that she has met her goals as a player, and is ready to embark on the next stage of life: motherhood, golf course design, and nurturing the Lorena Ochoa Foundation, which has built a school in Guadalajara that totally supports all of the costs of education for kids from first grade through high school.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Recently, she said, she played in a fundraiser at the Turning Stone Resort in New York, and she was paired with Ricky Fowler.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s fantastic,\u201d she said, in the confident tones of someone who knows whereof she speaks.\u00a0 \u201cHe has every shot, he\u2019s brave and has a strong heart.\u00a0 And he\u2019s a very nice person.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

So at least in the eyes of Lorena Ochoa, team captain Corey Pavin made a very smart choice in selecting Fowler to his US Ryder Cup team. \u00a0A singles match between Rory McElroy and Fowler would stimulate the fervor of a heavyweight championship fight. \u00a0\u00a0I hope we see that match on the final Sunday pairings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lorena said that she is interested pursuing golf course design, having learned a great deal from the all of the great courses she has competed on about the kinds of holes she likes and the sort of course she would like to create.\u00a0 She has not yet selected a project, but as the good will ambassador for Mexican golf, would love to do her first project in her homeland.\u00a0 Perhaps, she said, she will collaborate with her brother, Alejandro, who has partnered with Hills\/Forrest to create Ochoa-Hills Golf Design.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Women tend to enjoy golf more than men, Lorena said, because they see it as a social event as much as a competition.\u00a0 \u201cWhen I talk to my women friends about learning golf,\u201d she said, \u201cI tell them to take lessons in a group, and not by themselves.\u00a0 They get self-conscious alone, but with a\u00a0 group they can enjoy each other\u2019s company and encourage one another.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Lorena took questions from the audience, she listened attentively and thought for a bit before she answered.\u00a0\u00a0 Nothing she said seemed rehearsed, although surely she had heard some of the questions before.\u00a0 She engaged the audience in a sweet and generous way, and once the official performance was over, stayed on the stage for another half an hour for pictures and autographs for everyone who wanted one.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Lorena Ochoa with Developer Luis Rios, San Diego 2010<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

She then joined the conference delegates for lunch, again posing for pictures on the terrace, smiling and engaged and never once giving even the slightest hint that she wanted to be anywhere else.\u00a0 Having seen perhaps too many \u201ccelebrities\u201d in action over the years, I can attest that Lorena\u2019s attitude and performance place her among the rarest of public figures: someone who genuinely embraces her admirers.\u00a0 \u00a0Too many celebrities savor adulation, but treat their fans in private with scorn.\u00a0 Lorena was a fierce competitor who hated losing, even as a child.\u00a0 She jumped from a tree as a five year old because her older brother could, breaking both her arms but not harming her spirit in the least.\u00a0\u00a0 Still, she conveys a beguiling modesty, and an animated and fun-loving sensibility that complements the security of her achievements.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Always a fierce and fearless competitor: Lorena Ochoa at five.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The delegates left the conference mostly filled with optimism, slipping back into the developer\u2019s default mode.\u00a0 The last couple of years have been tough on the glass half-full crowd, but there\u2019s hope renewed that the faucet is turning.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For more on the conference, go to http:\/\/www.mexicoresortdevelopment.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A surprisingly optimistic mood prevailed at the Mexican Resort Development conference held\u00a0on September 12-14 in downtown\u00a0San Diego’s Hard Rock Hotel.\u00a0\u00a0The… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":371,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5,32,9,176,2227,18,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-instruction","category-golf-course-architecture","category-golf","category-business-travel","category-fairmont-hotels","category-lifestyle","category-personalities"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2010\/09\/6-Palencia.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":380,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370\/revisions\/380"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}