Yucatan Today – 19 years

Consistency, dedication, a special love for Merida and the state of Yucatan, an excellent portfolio of advertisers that believe in the product, a publisher that’s an artist and an editor that’s a foreigner are some of the secrets behind the huge success of the tourist guide Yucatan Today that on January 15th celebrates its 19 birthday of accompanying tourists as they travel about the land of the Maya.

Since 1976 when they created the guide Mayan Holiday, Juan Manuel Mier y Teran and his North American wife Judy Abbott de Mier y Teran have been designing, editing and publishing tourist guides. The first was Mayan Holiday that covered the state of Yucatan and was actually the first tourist guide in the then brand-new destination of Cancun in 1977.  In 1982 they created Islander, a guide to Isla Mujeres that still circulates to this day. The sale of these two publications was the turning point for the creation of a guide to just the Merida and the state of Yucatan. This new guide, the number one guide in the state, is Yucatan Today.

On a day like today, the 15th of January 1988 Yucatan Today was hot off the presses with a circulation of 5,000 magazines.

To achieve such success the Mier y Teran Abbott team have joined their talents – Juan Manuel is a commercial artist and Judy studied journalism and creative writing. Plus, she brings the “seeing Merida through the eyes of a foreigner” ingredient to the team which  means she knows what the visitor wants and needs information-wise to make their trip an incredible event.

Since they started the endeavor of creating tourist guides, they had the vision of having the tourist feel as if they were being taken by the hand and being shown the land of the Maya that they love so much.

Knowing that anyone who visits a new place needs maps to get oriented, Yucatan Today has become famous for its maps. Presently the magazine has 20 detailed maps of downtown Merida, Merida in general, the Paseo Montejo, the state of Yucatan, the archeological zones, the coastal towns and the colonial cities.

One thing that few people know is that fact that Yucatan Today is printed in its own print shop – Dynamic Offset. This is how the Mier y Teran Abbott’s not only control their quality but also make sure the present day 15,000 circulation is out on the streets the 15th of the month come rain or shine.

To be technologically up-to-date, the Mier y Terans saw that it was necessary to enter the world of internet and have a webpage of the magazine. With this in mind, they created  www.yucatantoday.com that in 2005 won the “Silver Lens, Pen and Microphone Award”  (La Lente, La Pluma y El Micrófono de Plata) for “the best tourism website in Mexico.” They received this award from then president Vicente Fox during the 30th edition of the Tianguis Turistica in Acapulco, Mexico.

After 19 years of editing Yucatan Today, Juan Manuel and Judy have seen that their market is now not only the visiting tourist, but also  the large ex-pat community that has chosen to live in Merida and its surrounding areas, plus the local community who looks for the magazine when they have out-of-town guests or when they want some ideas on where to dine or go on an excursion. And they have seen that everyone loves and uses the maps.  

After studying Graphic Design and a Master’s Degree in Marketing, the Mier y Teran Abbott’s daughter, Andrea, has joined the family business Grupo Dynamic as Commercial Director where she will continue the family tradition of creating tourist guides and overseeing the printing company.

To read in Spanish click here