• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, October 10, 2011

The Mexican Tourism Board has selected Havas’ MPG to handle its global media assignment according to sources.

Ad spending on the account is close to $60 million per sources, nearly double what the organization had been spending on ads in recent years. MTB’s media spend is said to be heavily weighted toward North America.

The win gives MPG traditional media planning and buying duties on the account, while sibling agency Media Contacts retains digital responsibilities, which it also handled prior to the review. ZenithOptimdia, a unit of Publicis Groupe was the incumbent on the traditional media account. It was not immediately clear if the shop defended its assignment or which other agencies participated in the review.

The appointment of MPG follows MTB’s hiring of a new PR agency, WPP’s Ogilvy Public Relations. The Mexican tourism organization is escalating efforts to combat the perception that the country is unsafe for tourists, given the level of violence in the country that is linked with the nation’s illicit drug trafficking.

To that end, the MTB launched a recent ad campaign, “Mexico: The Place You Thought You Knew,” which positions the country as a cultural and historical destination and not just a place “with beaches and Margaritas,” as one source described a common perception of the country.

Early this year, MTB said it hoped to boost the number of tourists to Mexico in 2011 by 15% to 26 million. It was not clear if the country was on track to meet that goal and a board spokesman did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

A still-in-effect travel warning from the U.S. State Department makes the MTB’s mission even more challenging.

In part, the warning, issued in April, states that, “Resort areas and tourist destinations in Mexico generally do not see the levels of drug-related violence and crime reported in the border region and in areas along major trafficking routes. Nevertheless, crime and violence are serious problems and can occur anywhere. While most victims of violence are Mexican citizens associated with criminal activity, the security situation poses serious risks for U.S. citizens as well.”