Progreso, Yucataán, (August 13, 2021).- A few days after the end of the holiday season in Yucatan, the Progreso commune celebrated that they have done better than expected. They expected conservative numbers, however, around 32,000 tourists were reported per week, 80 percent of them from Mérida.
Manuel Rosado Heredia, director of Tourism and Commerce of the Progreso city council recalled that before the pandemic, the arrival “peaks” exceeded 40 thousand tourists, so he considered that the results of this 2021 are quite satisfactory.
These figures are not compared with those of last year when they were not even registered as the entity was in one of the highest points of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the boardwalks, as well as the shops and restaurants, were all closed.
Regarding the economic spill, Rosado Heredia commented that each visitor spends approximately 850 pesos in the port, which produced a total of 27 million 200 thousand pesos per week and draws a “hopeful outlook” for the commercial sector.
Regarding hotel occupancy, he said that it averaged 54 percent during the holiday season; and certain businesses that were greatly affected by the pandemic, especially those that depended on the arrival of cruise ships, which have recovered, since the first three ships have already arrived.
The municipal official assured that measures such as the restriction of mobility and the closure of the boardwalks on Saturdays and Sundays have not substantially affected the commercial sector.
“In the end, the restaurants have their clientele and it surely affects them a bit, but I don’t think it’s anything significant,” he said.
In that sense, Manuel Rosado pointed out that the most affected are those who have concessions on the beach – including some restaurants – but that is what sets the norm and for the Progreso district the most important thing is health care, he said.
By decree of the state government, the boardwalk remains closed on Saturdays and Sundays, the rest of the days it is free to traffic, except vehicular; and the commune does not have information on whether a new scheme will be presented to relax these measures.
Finally, Rosado Heredia commented that 80 percent of the vacationers who come to Progreso come from Mérida. Many of them rent houses; or Airbnb, which register just over 40 percent occupancy.
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