Tourism on the rise in Yucatán (SEFOTUR)

The Yucatán State Secretariat of Tourism Development (Sefotur) reports that from January to April this year, 48 cruise ships arrived in Yucatan with 142,228 tourists and in the first five months of the year the number of passengers at the Mérida airport increased by 13.5%.

In a statement, SEFOTUR declares that the promotion of Yucatan as an attractive tourist destination, is reflected in the arrival of more passengers by air, higher hotel occupancy, more visitors with overnight stays, new air routes coming to Mérida, and a larger number of cruises arriving to Progreso.

On Friday June 7th, the cruise “Enchantment of the Seas” from Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, arrived for the first time in Progreso with 2,284 passengers and 861 crew, including technicians, maneuvering and maintenance personnel as well as entertainment staff.

Yucatan already demonstrated its potential to host different tourism segments, since in Progreso more than 120 cruises are received each year that bring 440,000 tourists and it is foreseen that, according to the investments projected to improve this destination, the figures will grow in the next years.

According to figures from DataTur, provided by the Federal Ministry of Tourism, from January to April, the total number of visitors with overnight stays in Mérida reached 563,365, an increase of 16.7% over the same period of time in 2018.

This figure placed the city of Mérida in second place in the country, after Puebla, in attracting tourists in the category of overnight stays in hotels. Surpassing León, Ciudad Juárez and other Mexican cities.

The Yucatan Times Newsroom with information from SEFOTUR