Durango, Mexico Leans into Mezcal To Draw More Tourists

The Mexican destination of Durango will promote new tourism segments and products, including the first mezcal festival.

Due to the increased interest of Mexican tourists in mezcal, the city of Durango is looking to strengthen it as a tourist product. Although there is already a mezcal route in Durango, the Tourism Department of the municipality will complement it with "Durango Sabe a Mezcal Fest."

More than 40 brands of Durango mezcal participated in the first Mezcal Festival in the capital city.

"It is about generating identity through this product, which can become a new tourist offer," said Elvira Silerio, director of Municipal Tourism Promotion.

The director mentioned that this "spirituous drink" in Durango has 25 years with the denomination of origin, and it is a tradition that should be highlighted. In addition, they took advantage of the December season, where there is a large influx of people, to participate in the festival, which tourists from the Laguna Region, Sinaloa, and Oaxaca, among other places, attended.

Local and national artists participated in the first festival, which included the inaugural presentation of Baby Aventurero, the mezcal song contest, the mixology contest, a mega relic at the Conservatorio de Cultura Gastronomica de Durango, and a closing concert.

With this event, Silerio Diaz offered an invitation to spend a winter vacation in Durango, which has four daily flights from Mexico City.

Likewise, he is confident that Mexican aviation will return to Category 1 by the summer of 2023 and thus open new flights from Atlanta and Los Angeles since many of its visitors travel to Tijuana to fly to those U.S. cities. There are currently direct flights to Chicago and Dallas.

Travelers can choose from a variety of lodging since the municipality has hotels in all categories, including boutiques.

The four Durango municipalities that produce mezcal with agave cenizo, the state's endemic plant, were also present at the event, including Nombre de Dios, Mapimi, Tamazula and Mezquital.

In Durango, there are 17 brands of mezcal from different types of agave, primarily artisanal, of other graduations ranging in age.