The new Puerto Vallarta International Convention Center has opened on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. Gala Vallarta, a trade show that brings together national and international wholesalers and tour operators who sell travel to Puerto Vallarta with local hotel industry leaders, marked the first official event at the convention center at the end of March.

The $43 million, 42-acre convention center is only five minutes from the airport and close to Puerto Vallarta’s major hotels and historic downtown area. It offers more than 105,000 square feet of meeting and exhibition space, including the Gran Salon Vallarta, the 54,000-square-foot main ballroom.

Visitors enter the convention center after passing through a 250,000-square-foot outdoor plaza, featuring a reflecting pool and landscaped gardens.

For more information, visit www.visitpuertovallarta.co.

On the tourism front, the Acapulco Destination Marketing Office announced that the recently discovered archeological zone of Tehuacalco has opened to the public. Just 50 minutes from Acapulco, Tehuacalco includes the remains of a ball court, a residential space, and a holy temple dating back to the year 750 B.C. With the support of the government of the state of Guerrero and the Mexico Secretary of Tourism, the site was discovered as part of extensive research into pre-Hispanic culture in the region.

The Mexican government also announced plans to open Cerro del Huixteco, an eco-tourism park in Taxco, in 2009.

For more information about Acapulco, visit www.visitacapulco.com.mx.