Many Yucatecans are paying 25 thousand pesos or more to go to the US to get vaccinated

Due to the fact that the neighboring country does not request any type of documentation that guarantees citizenship, Yucatecans that can afford it, are traveling to the US to be inoculated.

Mérida, Yuc, May 03, 2021, (SIPSE).- The facilities provided by the US government to vaccinate foreigners against Covid-19 boosted sales of air tickets up to 30 percent in Yucatán in the last two months.

This demand helped the reactivation of the state’s travel agencies, which sell packages for people who can pay up to 25 thousand pesos for a round trip to cities such as Miami and Houston, where the US authorities allow the vaccination of tourists prior to registration and online application.

The president of the Association for Culture and Tourism in Latin America, Armando Bojórquez Patron, specified that the vaccination program in the United States allows many Mexicans with economic possibilities and ages between 20 and 45 years to travel to the neighboring country to the north mainly to get vaccinated and, incidentally, to go shopping.

The leader of travel companies representing 30 Latin American countries pointed out that, at the national level, five thousand of these people have traveled to the United States as part of the so-called “vaccination tourism” from Yucatán and other Mexican cities such as Villahermosa, Campeche, and Tuxtla Gutiérrez.

He pointed out that this phenomenon drives the reactivation of the Mexican and American tourism sector, and that the main beneficiaries are travel agencies, airlines, hotels, and shopping centers in the US.

He specified that tourists in this segment fly mainly from Mexico City, Merida, and Cancun, bound for destinations such as Houston, Texas; Phoenix, Arizona; or Miami, Florida. Many take the opportunity to stay a few days. And in most cases, they go back three weeks later for the second dose.

Bojórquez Patron highlighted that the fact that there is a better climate in several US cities has served as an additional incentive for Mexicans and Yucatecans to direct their vacations to the neighboring country and take advantage of their stay and inoculate themselves.

“Many of these people are taking the long-awaited vacations and that is why Las Vegas (the state of Nevada is on the list where there are no restrictions for the vaccine) is living a good moment for those who can afford to travel. It is expected that other countries will explore this alternative, such as Cuba, and benefit from so-called “vaccination tourism”, ” Bojórquez Patron concluded.

Source: Sipse