On the 26th of February, the Mayor officially announced activation of the Puerto Penasco Tourist Assistance Unit (in Spanish: Unidad Auxiliar Turistico) consisting of 20 men and women, all bilingual and well trained and whose primary objectives are to serve, guide, inform and protect visitors, both national and foreign as well as the residents of Puerto Peñasco. This exciting addition to our city by the sea is a very important step toward preparing the city for its destined future as a world class resort destination. The carefully selected Tourist Assistance Unit is made up of naturally congenial service-oriented personnel who genuinely care about the welfare of all the people who live in and visit Puerto Peñasco. The Unit is headed up by Luis Molina, who, himself, comes from a hospitality background. The rest of the State of Sonora is also taking note, as Luis Molina commented, "Our TAU is the first of its kind in the State of Sonora, with a specific purpose to assist the visitors coming to Rocky Point (Both national and foreigners)". You will easily recognize agents of the Tourist Assistance Unit dressed in khaki pants, white shirts and safari hats riding bicycles, ATVs, and UTVs around the tourist areas and making themselves available to serve the public with their knowledge and training to answer questions of all sorts, give directions and help with any problems that might arise during your visit to Puerto Peñasco. On the back of their shirts in clear lettering is "Auxiliar Turistico". Mayor Kiko Munro also appointed a six member Tourist Assistance Advisory Committee comprised of President, Jim Ringquist, Secretary, Enrique Gaxiola, Treasurer, Donna Whitman, and additional members Mark Olszewski, Manny Sánchez, and Steve Schwab. This committee serves as an intermediary between the public and the Local Government, providing oversight and support for the TAU, through Luis Molina and Mayor Kiko Munro, as well as being involved in a broad range of other tourist support and tourism promotion duties. In the relatively short period of it's existence, the TAU has made a real difference and scored some major victories in helping tourists when they needed it. Unit Director Molina reports that the TAU Agents have been the first responders on accident scenes (mostly ATV and UTV) in over 60 cases and they have definitely saved at least one life, and possibly more, by being nearby when needed. The success stories of TAU Agents go beyond life saving first aid as well. During Spring Break and Semana Santa (Easter Holiday), the TAU Agents were able to reunite 15 families with their lost children, give directions and information countless times, and they even helped tourists who with dead batteries or who were stuck in the sand. That's true full-service, service. All of the Agents are trained in a number of tourist related skills and ongoing training is mandatory. We are always looking for specialists in their field who are willing to volunteer to come and give them additional training. Please contact the TAU Advisory Committee to volunteer. Some of the current and ongoing training that the Agents receive is in first aid, CPR, self defense, police procedures, environment protection, natural history of the area, folk tales of the town, ongoing English classes, and tourist assistance. This list is by no means all inclusive and if you are willing to teach a different relevant skill or subject, please let us know. TAU administration is located on the west end of the Peñasco EXPO Convention Center located on Blvd Rodger & Jeanette Clifton which is the road to the Rodeo Drive curios area. There is another TAU office on the Malecon. You are welcome to stop by any time during their hours of operation. Office hours are from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM and their local land line phone number is (638) 382-8413. You may also reach the TAU advisory committee at 602-774-1777 or email: [email protected]. You can also visit the committee's Facebook site at Puerto Peñasco Tourist Assistance Unit Advisory Committee. For your information, the city also has a web site: www.puertopenasco.gob.mx. The bottom line is that Puerto Peñasco is well on the road to preparing for the already growing tourism and the much-anticipated touristic growth expected for the next several years and to be boosted by the completion of the Puerto Peñasco home cruise port. Mayor Kiko Munro is keenly aware of how these new services and other services that he has planned for the near future can affect tourism growth. The Tourist Assistance Unit is and will remain a very important part of the future of Puerto Penasco.
