Birth of the Mexican Service Industry

November 8, 1519: Aztec ruler Moctezuma II welcomes a large Spanish package tour organized by Hernan Cortés and a local representative, Doña Malinche, to his lakeside hotel in Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City).


Though booked for just two nights, the Cortés group repeatedly extended their stay - a development Moctezuma initially resisted. Luckily, the Quetzalcoatl party canceled at the last minute and, as this was the traditionally slow "smallpox/yellow fever" season, Moctezuma, glad for the business, went so far as to offer desayuno incluido and extend an open line of credit at the bar. The rest is history.