Mariachi Cobre has Midas touch

The group that founded the Tucson conference is back, and crowds follow.

The Ballet Folklórico los Tucsonenses performs yesterday for several hundred students at the Tucson Convention Center Music Hall.
FRANCISCO MEDINA/Tucson Citizen

TEYA VITU
Tucson Citizen
April 24, 2002
The return of Mariachi Cobre and last night's joint mariachi and Tucson Symphony Orchestra concert promise a boost for the recently sagging Bank One Tucson International Mariachi Conference.
Mariachi week has slumped since Cobre's last appearance in 1996, but conference organizers are hoping the Tuesday Symphony event brought more visitors to Tucson for the full five days rather than just the two big concerts Friday and Saturday.
"We want people to stay longer than usually," said Tina Roesler of Project Brainstorm, the conference's marketing organization. "We want people to enjoy the notion of staying the full week."
The symphony-mariachi concert is "a way to get the point across," she said.
The conference does not assign a dollar figure to the potential economic impact to the event, but the general thought is spending should be up this year.
"I think it will bring it up again to $6 (million) or $7 million, hopefully," said Rudy Chabolla, vice president of community affairs at the Metropolitan Tucson Convention & Visitors Bureau.
In 1992, the reported impact was $8 million. Those were the days when the street in front of Crossroads Restaurant, 2602 S. Fourth Ave., was shut down during the conference.
"This is not the same when they closed off the street," said Robert Gonzalez, Crossroads general manager. "That was the time back then. Those are the glory days."
Gonzalez doesn't think the Mariachi Conference will top the Valentine's Day/Tucson Rodeo season, which is the peak period for Crossroads.
"I'm hoping very much this is a very positive weekend," he said. "I'm feeling a little bit already of tourism coming in. The atmosphere of people is they want to hear mariachi."
Cele Peterson, who has clothed Tucsonans since 1931, senses the same atmosphere even at her East Side fashion shop.
"My feel about the whole mariachi conference is, it sets a different mood across all of the community," Peterson said. "You feel that because the air is charged. We have increases in business. I think people are buying more spirited clothing, more color."
Conference organizers expect to see 50,000 to 60,000 people during the five-day event, culminating Saturday with the Espectacular Concert showcasing conference founder Mariachi Cobre.
"People are coming into town more because of Mariachi Cobre," said Fred Orozco, president of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. "The dollars and cents are tied to that group. The last couple years, it was tough to get rid of tickets. This year, it's more difficult to get a ticket."
The Mariachi Conference typically draws 75 percent of its crowd from locals, but there is a strong presence of families traveling from California, New Mexico and Texas, said Augie Garcia, director of the Tucson-Mexico Trade Office.
"It draws from the Mexican-American community," Garcia said. "I do believe it does have an economic impact because it brings families in from out of state."
But Sonora does not seem to have a strong presence at the conference.
"(Conference promoters) don't seem to promote very heavily at all in Mexico," Chabolla said. "(Sonorans) are so far from Mexico City they can come to Tucson. There is great potential."
Garcia sees the same missed opportunity in Mexico.
"I think it should be more promoted in Mexico," Garcia said. "Definitely market around border communities and down to Hermosillo."
Roesler said the conference relies on Chabolla and the Visitors Bureau to promote the conference during trips to Sonora.
"I know it's a very elusive market to get into, the market in Sonora," Roesler said. "What's important to them is face-to-face relationship building."
Downtown hotels score big during mariachi week, but the conference has not outgrown room capacity.
"Hotels downtown do exceptionally well," said Jerry Gutierrez, director of international relations and marketing for Premier Hotel Group, which owns the downtown Radisson Hotel. "We still don't get the numbers I'd like to see from Mariachi."
The Radisson hosts the Mariachi Tigre from Taos, N.M., a 15-member group with a total of 32 people.
"We really enjoy our relationship with the Radisson downtown," Roesler said. "We want to do more to move that relationship forward."
The Mariachi Conference in some ways is the last hurrah before summer swoops in with a wallop.
"The Mariachi Conference gets a lot of publicity for Tucson," said Rob LaMaster, regional vice president of the Arizona Restaurant and Hospitality Association. "That's good, and it comes at a time of year when things are slowing down."
Chabolla figures 50 or 60 percent of the conference's economic impact goes to lodging and food, but plenty more to shopping or Tucson's tourist attractions.
Garcia gives a more colorful description to spending during the Mariachi Conference.
"They come to party," Garcia stressed. "They will spend money."