CANCUN Q.ROO (REPORTUR.MX) .- Conrad Bergwerf, president of the Association of Hotels of the Riviera Maya (AHRM), confirmed that there is an “alarming” fall in hotel occupancy in some areas of the Riviera Maya and Cancun.
The reasons are a “perfect storm” caused by:
- Sargassum
- The fall in the number of air seats from the United States and Canada
- Unfair competition of vacation rentals (AirBnB)
- The lack of clarity regarding the future of the Tourism Promotion Council of Quintana Roo after the disappearance by AMLO´S new government of the Mexico´s Tourism Promotion Council
- Constant insecurity.
After a meeting with Secretary of Tourism, Miguel Torruco Marqués, it was agreed to seek new markets, with three possible options.
- First the Asian, with China, Japan and Korea,
- Second, national tourism, which is always present and has often been replaced by international tourism,
- Third, Latin America.
The upcoming Turkish Airlines flight to Mexico City and Cancun, will open the door to the Middle East and Asia tourism. Cathay Pacific, is announcing flights to Mexico City. “That helps and responds precisely to Secretary Torruco’s initiative to open up new markets,” Conrad Bergwerf, president of the Association of Hotels of the Riviera Maya said.
As for the promotion, a new movement is in incubation called “Yes to Mexico” created by the largest tour operators in Mexico and the United States, in which positive experiences about the country’s tourist destinations are shared.
“It is interesting to see that this is promoted by an alliance of US tour operators to keep the flow of American tourists to the country. Leading this initiative is Apple Leisure Group, whose intention is to reaffirm that we are a safe destination”. Conrad Bergwerf explained. “Because we are at level 2 of travel warning, the same as in London or Paris”.
The CEO of Apple Leisure Group (ALG), Alex Zozaya, pointed out that with the new issuance of passports “there is a new market in the United States that is traveling for the first time, causing an acceleration in the number of passengers issued year after year”.
The hotel sector of the Riviera Maya predicted last November that 2019 would be a year of stability now it has postponed its optimism until 2020.
The Association of Hotels of the Riviera Maya groups 135 hotels with more than 40 thousand rooms, which makes it the most important in Mexico.
The Yucatan Times
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5 comments
Jeez. Maybe I put off booking a trip to Playa etc because of all the bad press about the surging crime problem. No wait, it’s not the press it’s the actual crime rate!
Extremely expensive hotels. Señores is US dollars and Mexican s think is very cheap. Better Panama o Costa Rica or RD or even Cuba
1. Take care of your beaches. Clean them not only of sargaso generaly.
2. Eradicate the coruption. Policmen stoping drivers of rented cars and asking them for money for no reason.
3. Stop branding all foreing turists as “stupid gringos” good only to fill your pockets and do you jobs with love and pride.
I have been coming to Cancun and Playa del Carmen for 18 years and have never had a problem.
In Playa, the big turnoffs are now:
1. Sargassum piling up on the beach,
2. Room prices are the same or dearer than other beaches around the world that don’t have this problem,
3. Constant harassment by people on the street when walking through town, especially around 5th.
These 3 things are the biggest turnoffs and are why we think twice about going.
For the other points they’ve mentioned, I’ve never heard of the tourism promotion council, and the airlines will always add more flights if demand is there. I don’t feel unsafe there (just harassed and increasingly treated like a walking ATM), but I know the crime reports do influence other travelers.