MERIDA YUCATAN.- On Tuesday February 5 2019 The Yucatan Times received a very peculiar press release titled “ St. Valentines in Yucatan” by the Secretariat of Tourism of the State of Yucatan, which by itself is not uncommon except that usually, government press releases do not include the advertising of private companies and its brands.
The Tourism bureau is supposed to promote the State of Yucatan, its wonders, tourism attractions and main events. Due to the very unusual type of information contained in the letter, our editorial direction reached out to the secretary Michelle Fridman inquiring about this practice.
These are some of the questions asked:
- Why is SEFOTUR directly promoting commercial brands?
- What is SEFOTUR receiving in exchange for this direct brand promotion?
- Is there financial compensation for this direct promotion? If so, we would like to know the amount.
- Under what premises does a state secretariat sets aside the global promotion to focus on individual promotion?…
- What does a business have to do (requirements) in order to be part of this direct promotion?
Since it is not unusual to hear in Mexico that government employees sometimes profit from the private sector conducting unethical practices that smother the good name of an administration, we have requested SEFOTUR to explain why it is that very specific brands are being favorite over others when clearly there are many outstanding, tourism related businesses in the city of Merida and the interior of the state that could benefit from promotion.
The Yucatan Times under Decree 388-2016 of the Law on Transparency and Access to Public Information of the State of Yucatán (Decreto 388/2016 de la Ley de Transparencia y Acceso a la Información Pública del Estado de Yucatán) that states “Access to public information is a fundamental right by means of which every individual can know the information that is generated by possession, use or administration of public resources”, has officially required SEFOTUR to answer the questions submitted to them.
As soon as The Yucatan Times receives an answer to these questionings, they will be shared with our readers.
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