Mexico anticipates a summer with more tourism, but less income

The offer of seats on international flights will reach 4.6 million for that season

After the storm that impacted national tourism, the sun begins to rise for the sector that could register between 18.6 and up to 23.5 million travelers during this summer, which would exceed between 17 and up to 48 percent to the same season of 2019, before the pandemic, when about 15.9 million people vacationed.

The Secretariat of Tourism (Sectur) estimated that this summer, which includes the months of July and August, will leave a spill of 56 thousand 675 million pesos in an optimistic scenario and in the pessimistic would be 44 thousand 298 million pesos.

These figures, however, are 48 percent below the outpouring recorded in the summer prior to the arrival of the pandemic, due to a lower projection in the arrival of international tourists.

In addition, foreign exchange earnings from international visitors are expected to be $12,200 million, up 10.2 percent.

According to Despegar, the most sought-after destinations for Mexicans to travel in the summer are: Riviera Maya, Puerto Vallarta, Playa del Carmen, Huatulco, Acapulco, Nuevo Vallarta, Ixtapa and CDMX.

Alejandro Calligaris, Country Manager of Despegar Mexico, said that international travel for the summer will still have some restrictions, but assured that the interest in traveling exists and will grow as it is allowed to move without the need to quarantine or apply a series of tests.

“We see that there is a great interest of Mexicans to travel, mainly to national destinations, since domestic tourism is what is marking the reactivation of the industry and is a trend that is occurring throughout the (Latin American) region,” Calligaris said.

While beaches will benefit the most, city and business destinations will continue to ‘suffer’ the ravages of the pandemic.

Los Cabos expects to have a 10 percent growth in the flow of tourists from abroad and from the interior of the country.

“For Los Cabos we believe that the summer is going to be very positive, especially in some natural markets; in the summer, for us the Texas market is strategic and the whole southern part of the United States that, when it travels, is in summer. What we see in the advance reservations we believe that we will have a good presence, “said Rodrigo Esponda, director of the Tourism Trust of Los Cabos (Fiturca).

Cancun expects to have an occupancy of more than 60 percent, this if the epidemiological traffic light does not change and the destination is forced to apply restrictions.

Riviera Maya and Cancun expect an uptick in European tourism for the summer that has lifted restrictions for those seeking destinations in the Mexican Caribbean.

Nationals drive recovery

Braulio Arsuaga, president of the National Tourism Business Council (CNET), said that beach destinations will benefit this summer, especially from the national demand that will take a few days in the main coastal destinations.

He opined that summer is a season where national tourism is what nourishes the reservations.

“Summer is national, we will have to understand which are the destinations that can receive more volume and which are reversing as a Yucatan or a Quintana Roo that have regressed, so it is a challenge because at the end of the day there are important states that, for sun and beach, are regressing,” Arsuaga told El Financiero.

In recent weeks, both states reported increases in positive COVID cases, according to figures from the Ministry of Health.

He added that the downgrade of category 2 aviation in Mexico will also be an obstacle, as domestic airlines will not be able to increase their flights between the United States and Mexican beaches.

However, the Secretary of Tourism, Miguel Torruco recently pointed out that, according to the Official Airline Guide (OAG), the offer of seats on international flights planned for the summer will be 4 million 686 thousand seats, an increase of 3 million 300 thousand seats with respect to the summer of 2020, when the pandemic limited the operations of airlines.

Meanwhile, 10 million 697 thousand airplane seats are budgeted for the domestic market for the summer holidays, an increase of 3.8 million over the same period of the previous year.

Source: elfinanciero.com.mx

Mexico Daily Post