Summer vacations no longer good, they have already “broken”, and cruise tourism is just an illusion, fewer and fewer passengers stay, most foreign tourists are taken to Mérida, archaeological zones and other destinations, few are staying in the port, said restaurateur William Castaldi on Thursday.
“It is no longer like 10 years ago, when sales on a cruise day were 3,000 dollars (about 37,920 pesos at the exchange rate of August 10, 2013); now they are from 100 to 300 dollars (from 1,743 to 5,229 pesos) when things go from almost good to good; Many foreign tourists do not stay anymore, it can be seen today (Thursday), there are few passengers of the ‘Carnival Valor’ and they spend little, ”he contrasted.
According to the Administration of the National Port System of Progress, the “Carnival Valor” arrived yesterday at 6:30 in the morning from Cozumel, with some 3,800 passengers and 1,100 crew members, and set sail at 3 in the afternoon bound for New Orleans.
Few passengers from the ship were on the beach of the boardwalk of this city, they rode in banana boats and tourist cars, hired massages and occupied palapas and lounge chairs, sales were low, several waiters and vendors expressed.
Castaldi maintained that the good times of cruise ships are over, since now they take passengers to other places and few tourists from the ship stay in port.
10 years ago, on a good day on a cruise, sales at my restaurant were $3,000 USD, and when things were not going well, they sold $1,000 USD, he narrated. But now the sales, in most cases, are 100 dollars and when the service provider does well, they earn 300 dollars; the cruises are just an illusion, they don’t leave profits like in previous years.
Regarding the summer holidays, Castaldi pointed out that this summer is over, they are not long enough, between 3,000 and 5,000 walkers arrive a day, on Saturdays and Sundays it increases a little, but before the Covid-19 pandemic, from Monday to Saturday up to 30,000 people arrived per day and on Sundays 100,000 walkers invaded the boardwalk, musical groups performed and the stay on the beach was more attractive.
He thought that what greatly affected these vacations was the checkpoint with the breathalyzer.
He said that although they removed the checkpoint with the breathalyzer at the exit of this city, the damage has already been done.
Many people who were fined with $8,000 and $10,000 pesos, or were jailed and paid $15,000 for the fine to get their vehicle out of the impound, they did not return to the port and spread the negative of the port, he highlighted.
Source: Yucatan a la Mano
