Colima boasts a number of luxury hotels, like Las Hadas Golf Resort and Marina in Manzanillo. Courtesy Las Hadas

Two of the biggest tourist destinations in the Americas were selected as venues for major meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) as Mexico hosted this year's round of meetings -- trade ministers met at Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco in May, while the government leaders will come together in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur in October.

The tourism ministers, however, met in a Pacific resort that is little-known outside Mexico, and even then mainly for its deep-water port, Manzanillo, in the tiny state of Colima for the APEC tourism ministerial. The meeting in Manzanillo, the first week of July, says Miguel de la Madrid, the state's Secretary for Tourism, "has put Manzanillo on the map!"

Almost 90 percent of the tourists who currently find their way to Manzanillo are Mexican, and most of them come by road from the neighboring states. There is a smattering of tourist traffic from the United States and Canada, mostly by charter flights.

The state government would like to change that and is currently promoting development of new hotel centers, marinas and golf courses to lure more foreign tourists to these Pacific beaches.

“In Colima we have sun and beach, but we are also growing in the convention market,” says Secretary de la Madrid Andrade. “The hotels in Manzanillo have convention facilities and in the city of Colima, conventions can be done at the University of Colima.” The Secretary also notes that Colima is the only state in Mexico that has volcanoes and beaches in close proximity to each other, thus the state is also pushing to expand ecotourism.

Two main projects in Manzanillo are an extensive renovation of the city center and the development of Puerto de Santiago as a tourist zone with four lots to build hotels. Private investment accompanying these projects includes expansion of an ocean terminal to improve accommodation for cruise ships and construction of a marina for 80 yachts.

“They are going to adapt a series of attractive sites in downtown Manzanillo,” says Secretary de la Madrid Andrade. “For example, the sculpture by architect Sebastian of Pez Vela, which is the largest in the world, is spectacular.”

At the present time, tourism employs almost 10,000 people in Colima and brings in $200 million in annual revenue. The state has 151 hotels, including seven in the five-star luxury class, with more than 6,000 rooms. Manzanillo currently has three world-class golf courses, including the 27-hole Isla de Navidad.