TIJUANA.- On Thursday night, the first floor of the A Gate of the International Airport, Abelardo L. Rodríguez hosted the representatives of the Tourism and Convention Committee (COTUCO, in Spanish) from the five cities of Baja California, in order to sign a collaboration agreement so Baja can "unify efforts" regarding state tourism.

"We don't want to only promote Tijuana… we want to sell the circuit, we don't just want people to come and go, we want them to set their eyes on Rosario, visit Ensenada, spend the night in Tijuana," pointed out President of COTUCO Tijuana, Miguel Angel Badiola. Prior to this, it was thought that Mexicali would be too far away to be included in the agreement, but state capital leaders also showed interest in working alongside Ensenada and the metropolitan area of Tijuana, in order to promote the state.

But how would they do it? Through the COTUCO office in San Diego, and other announcements that were made during the event.

The event wasn't only to celebrate the agreement, it also had the participation of the San Diego Tourism Authority and President, Joe Terzi, who was visiting Tijuana for the first time as a tourism representative of his city, amazed on how much his southern neighbor and Baja have to offer.

He told an anecdote on how on his many trips to Japan, while promoting the flight from Tokyo to San Diego, he was asked regularly about Mexico and how to get to Tijuana, acknowledging that it is really appealing for Asian and other travelers to visit two countries in one trip.

"I want to thank my friends for opening my eyes and convincing me that I have a lot of work to do here. We all want to work together to benefit everyone else. Thank you so much for the opportunity," said Terzi during his meeting presentation.

His visit is the result of months of negotiation, from him as well as from other San Diego officials who are seeking to bring together both countries regarding commerce, politics and tourism. The office, announced Badiola, will be accommodated inside the SANDAG offices, the San Diego Governments Association. Badiola also announced that they are currently working on projects to improve connectivity in Avenida Revolución, such as public Wi-fi, with apps that will help tourists identify interest points and places to eat.

After his words of gratitude towards some of COTUCO Tijuana's former presidents, the agreement was finally signed. The signatories were all the tourism representatives from the six cities, which included the mayors of Tecate, Ensenada, representatives of Mexicali, Rosario and Tijuana, as well as Terzi representing San Diego.

The event concluded with a walk through of the progress that the Binational Bridge that will connect Tijuana's Airport with San Diego's new terminal on the other side of the border is having.

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