Restaurant owners are abandoning downtown Cancún.

“Restaurant owners opt to settle in higher-growth areas, such as the southern polygon”
said the Canirac.

(CANCUN QRoo – SIPSE) – Despite the attempts that have been made to rescue downtown Cancun, the restaurant sector is opting to move to areas with more growth and, therefore, more significant economic spillover.

Marcy Bezaleel Pacheco, president of the National Chamber of Restaurants and Seasoned Foods (Canirac), explained that downtown businesses register occupancies of barely 40 or 50%, which is why they are betting on areas such as the southern polygon, where there are better sales; the site is being transformed into a corridor similar to the Huayacán.

“For the closing of the year in the downtown area, and occupancy of 60% is expected, which is to continue fighting to increase it, because Christmas dinners do not cause a great furor, and although we are working on events, we have not managed to raise it,” she lamented.

The Yaxchilán and Sunyaxchén areas are reporting fewer and fewer restaurants because they are changing locations. He said that if there were more than 25 businesses, now there are only four or five left in this area. Those still standing are those located on Nader and Bonampak avenues, places where various cultural and gastronomic events are held, which help the economic rebound.

“However, we see that where they are capitalizing is towards the Huayacán area, where there are at least two openings per week, so they are managing to capitalize” (sic), he added.

The gastronomic sector was one of the most affected by the pandemic since many restaurants closed; however, they managed to reinvent themselves and recover little by little. To this end, they are working hand in hand with the authorities to attract more tourism.

With the epidemiological traffic light in green, a more significant reactivation is possible since the capacity is greater and the opening hours have been extended.

The Yucatan Times
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