Tourism Industry Grows in the Mexican Pacific

The number of bookings to the Mexican Pacific destinations, such as Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos and Acapulco, are growing at double digits.

The sargassum problem and a lack of promotion has hurt tourism in Quintana Roo and made Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos rebound. The seaweed invasion has hit the Mexican Caribbean hotel industry hard. Despite the fact that the Easter vacation period fell in April this year, which should have boosted tourist arrivals, the number of occupied hotel rooms in Cancun and Puerto Morelos was lower than in the same month of last year.

In these destinations, hotel occupancy was 80.2 percent, 5.9 percentage points less than what was registered in April last year, according to data from the Tourism Secretariat of Quintana Roo. In Riviera Maya, hotel occupancy was at 83 percent, down 4.1 percentage points from 2018.

For the Hotel Association of the Riviera Maya (AHRM) the expected hotel occupancy for April was 85 percent, but instead the number of reservations fell 10 percent. “Not all beaches are affected at the same time (by sargassum), we must inform tourists that hotels in the affected areas pick the seaweed up daily, and some have placed containment projects in the waters in front of their properties to keep their beaches clean,” commented the executive director of the AHRM, Manuel Paredes.

Jorge Hernández, president of the Mexican Association of Travel Agencies (AMAV), said that the decline in tourism has affected Cancun to a greater extent. Travel agencies are informing tourists of the sargassum problem in Quintana Roo and are suggesting alternatives such as Mazatlan, Manzanillo, Puerto Vallarta, Huatulco or Gulf beach destinations. Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos are the destinations for which most have exchanged their reservations, he said.

Source: Banderas News

Last Updated on 31/07/2019 by Puerto Vallarta Net