Visit Mexico has been left red-faced after a translation error renamed iconic tourist attractions on its website.
The Mexican tourism marketing body’s website was scattered with what looks like literal translations and random guesses in the place of multiple destination names, including renaming the resort of Tulum “Jumpsuit”, Aculco to “I Blame” and Villa del Carbón to “Coal Village”, according to Latin US.
Other notable mistranslations include renaming Guerro to “Warrior”, Ciudad Madero to “Log” and Progreso to “Progress”.
Though not everyone found the gaff amusing, with the country’s ex-president Felipe Calderon saying the translations made a fool of Mexico on Twitter.
“”Warrior” instead of Guerrero, “Noble” instead of Hidalgo, “Turret” instead of Torreón … stop making a fool of Mexico!” he said.
“Warrior” en lugar de Guerrero, “Noble” en lugar de Hidalgo, “Turret” en lugar de Torreón… ¡ya dejen de poner a México en ridículo! https://t.co/XN6E2WxKel
— Felipe Calderón 🇲🇽 (@FelipeCalderon) August 7, 2020
The tourism body has since taken down its website, displaying instead a notice that said: “new website coming soon”.
In a statement to AP, the tourism department suggested the glitch could have been intentional and said it will take legal action.
“The Tourism Department expresses its most sincere apologies to the public and users for the effects that have occurred on the website VisitMexico,” the statement said.
“We make it known that these acts aim to damage the image of the website and the department, and so, therefore, a criminal complaint has been filed and appropriate legal actions will be taken against those responsible.”
According to Latin US, this isn’t the first time the page has caused trouble, with it copping a temporary suspension and displaying a “non-payment” notice at the end of July, which Visit Mexico blamed on a company it said it hired to manage the page.
Featured image source: VisitMexico.com
