San Diego’s sea, sun, surf and spa offerings have always beckoned to vacationers but a traveler with an interest in heritage, history and Hispanic explorers will also find a week’s worth of activities with nary a trip to the beach.

A French cultural vacation awaits you in Québec City every day of the year, but even more so on the first weekend in August when The New France Festival (Les Fêtes de la Nouvelle-France) is held, now in its 20th year. Multicultural Travel News was in Québec City this past August for the Festival, an annual outdoor 5-day celebration, perhaps best described  as « Colonial Williamsburg meets The Renaissance Faire,” with a serving of “poutine” –  the French way of eating French fries (gravy and cheese curds instead of ketchup.) Costumez-vous! – Wear a period costume to get in the true spirit of the event or comfortable clothes (costumes are available to rent from Costumier de l’époque – view some selections at http://www.costumierlepoque.com/) and immerse yourself in an educational, musical, fun-filled and delicious experience which evokes the time when, contrary to the popular sentiment of today, we were all furriers back then. Our visit started with a bit of history and ended with hysterical laughter as we first traveled back in time listening to the re-enactor explain his role as the “engagé” (contract worker) and culminating in a corn eating competition with our friend Paul eating 25 ears of corn, which, amazingly, brought him only up to 3^rd place. The “engagé,” this hired hand, addressed our group: “Who here is from the 13 colonies?” And so began our foray into the past at this unique encounter with history which took place at the Fortifications of Québec National Historic Site- Artillery Park, part of this designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.   Favorite food: the biggest and best turkey leg I have ever tasted, a featured delicacy at the BBQ of Yesteryear tent, also serving grilled specialties inspired from the Huron-Wendat, Celtic era and Acadia peoples. Favorite “awwww” moment: a bunny in a basket being passed around amongst 3-year olds at the petting zoo pen. Also, not to be missed at the biggest history fest in North America – old-timey vendor booths, tasting kiosks, major music shows, staged mini performances, stilt-walking acrobats, a fencing workshop, a strongman demonstration, and First Nation’s music and dance.

On a recent visit to Upstate New York for The Adirondacks (Outdoors) Challenge, Multicultural Travel News had the opportunity to learn about diversity in the region. Not bio-diversity, though our trip did coincide with Invasive Species Awareness Week. But how attractions have taken steps to diversify their visitor base and why the State of New York considers diversity a priority. Continue reading →

Low cost carrier Volaris, serving more destinations in Mexico than any other airline, inaugurates service from JFK on July 15^th  as it continues to serve its core audience, the Hispanic Market. Miguel Aguiñiga Rodríguez, Senior Manager Mex-US/Sales & Marketing for Volaris,  in an interview with Multicultural Travel News, said that the “visiting family and relatives” market (VFR) is their key market. For that reason, since the airline was launched 9 years ago, he noted, they have been doing research to identify the largest Mexican-American population areas to establish routes to serve the VFR market.  Guadalajara is a principal destination because of the opportunity it presents to this  market as drive time from Guadalajara is only 2 to 6 hours to most key cities such as Zacatecas, Aguascalientes and Morelia, among others, destinations that are key for the Mexican ex-patriots living in the US. The airline also targets second and third generation Mexican-Americans to encourage them to visit and learn about their culture and food.The Volaris outreach to the Hispanic population is aligned with the Mexican Tourism board’s campaign with the theme “Mis Raices” targeting the Hispanic Market which will launch this August. The current “Live it to Believe it” campaign highlights the culture and food of Mexico and promotes a “Wine & Tequila Route” and “Mole Route.” The “Thousand Flavors of Mole” route encourages travelers to visit the regions of Mexico City, Tlaxcala, Oaxaca and Puebla where the famous “mole poblano” originates. The tequila route includes the city of Guadalajara, the capital of Mariachi music, itself declared as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Volaris marketing outreach includes alliances  with the various regional  Mexican Federations around the US, as a  key way to reach their main target —  Mexicans in the US with ties to family in Mexico. Knowing that Hispanics overindex in social media usage, Volaris is also focused on utilizing Facebook where they currently have over 1,300,00 likes and Twitter with over a million followers.  And in other milestone news, earlier this month Volaris announced it transported its 50 Millionth customer.

By Lisa Skriloff, Editor, Multicultural Travel News