Tijuana Hopes to Import Conventioneers

Business owners hope to see U.S. dollars from this summer’s Republican National Convention across the border in San Diego, but some fear the city’s Wild West image may get in the way.

Long a staging area for drug dealers and human smugglers heading north, this border city is known more for its street shootouts and cheap prostitutes than for its cultural center and modern architecture.

Juan Tintos Funcke, secretary of tourism for Baja California, said this will make his job much more difficult in the weeks before the Aug. 12-15 convention.

“The press is going to cover narcotics and illegal aliens,” Funcke said in a recent interview. “We know we’re not going to cover the sun with one finger, but we want a chance.”

Illegal immigration has dominated headlines for at least two years as the U.S. government intensifies its fight against undocumented workers.

The steel fence along the U.S.-Mexico border is a favorite campaign stop for American politicians hoping to align themselves with the law enforcement effort.

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Tourism officials want some of the expected 30,000 visitors to the Republican National Convention to see downtown Tijuana with its booming factory-based economy, well-paved roads and enormous cultural center.

Tijuana’s maquiladoras--assembly plants that import manufactured parts and export assembled products--have pushed its employment rate to the highest in the nation.

It now outranks San Diego in manufacturing jobs, according to a quarterly journal, the San Diego/Tijuana Economic Review.

Although the economic relationship between Tijuana and San Diego is increasingly synergistic, Mexican and U.S. officials doubt Tijuana will see much of the $100 million the convention is expected to bring to the regional economy north of the border.

“I don’t anticipate there’s going to be a significant number of conventioneers that go down there,” said Ernest Grijalva of the Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce. “Other than maybe for an afternoon, it’ll probably just be a blip.”

The Tijuana Chamber of Commerce will take interested convention-goers on tours of the maquiladoras, the cultural center and downtown. But that presupposes attendees will use their free time to call and request a tour.

Closer to the truth, most attendees who visit Tijuana will probably head to Avenida Revolucion, a wide strip of seedy bars, souvenir shops and restaurants within walking distance of San Diego.

“We don’t want to radically change our image,” said Antonio Santillan Munoz, president of the Avenida Revolucion Assn. of Merchants.

The tourist strip attracts 1,000 foreigners a day, and 5,000 each night. Its business owners spend $200,000 a year on an advertising campaign that relies on the slogan: “Welcome to Tijuana.”

Gilberto Leyva, owner of a liquor store at 2nd Street and Revolucion, knows what the convention will mean for him--wives of delegates, two dozen at a time.

“And every single one buys one bottle--$6 for a fifth of tequila,” he said.

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Standing next to an electric bull at his El Torito Pub on Avenida Revolucion, Efrain Soto said he plans to give convention visitors what they want--mariachis, pinatas and bumper stickers.

As a busboy repaired a disco ball above the dance floor, Soto said El Torito would continue to offer two drinks for the price of one, a light show and no cover.

Said Soto: “The convention is great for this area.”