Newlink is the Mexico Tourism Board’s New Agency for Public
Relations in the United States
THE
MEXICAN MINISTRY OF TOURISM MONITORS DESTINATIONS IN VIEW OF PUBLIC HEALTH
CONCERNS
Mexico City, May 04, 2009 – The Mexican Ministry
of Tourism (SECTUR), the Mexico Tourism Board (CPTM), and National Trust Fund
for Tourism Development (FONATUR) have created a committee for the evaluation
and monitoring of Mexico’s main resort destinations. This Committee
analyzes the behavior presented by the tourism activity in Mexico as a
result of the current health situation.
The
Tourism Minister of Mexico,
Rodolfo Elizondo Torres, explained that the Ministry has been working closely
with the states and most popular tourism destinations in the country in order
to make an accurate diagnosis that will help establish an action plan in favor
of Mexico’s
tourism industry.
Mr.
Elizondo Torres expressed that at this moment there is no accurate information
as to the real economic loss in the tourism sector. He added that the Committee
has helped gathering preliminary information about hotel occupancy levels in
the past week, as well as cancellations of flights, cruise ships and business
conventions in some resort towns.
In
this respect, and based on information available to date, Rodolfo Elizondo
communicated that destinations such as Cancun
estimate hotel cancellations of 70% and occupancy rates of 44.8% from May 1st
to 10th. Accordingly and as a result of the situation, The World Congress of Pediatrics, expected
to bring in approximately 4,000 participants and to take place in Cancun during the month of May, has been rescheduled for
November. Meanwhile, the Mayan Riviera registered a 77.8%
occupancy rate from April 24th through the 29th but the
destination has indeed experienced cancelations mainly in the destination
weddings market.
Huatulco registers a 46% decrease in room
occupancy, which represents a decrease of 5,402 visitors; as a result, the
destination estimates an economic loss of 34.5 million pesos.
At the beginning of the Influenza outbreak, Mexico City reported room
occupancy levels below they average of 55%, but at the end of April, the
occupancy rated dropped to 14.79%. The most important convention centers in Mexico City: Centro
Banamex, the World Trade Center (WTC) and Centro Bancomer, were shut down.
Similarly, the Mexico City Convention and Visitors
Bureau (CVB) reported that 4 major events – accounting for over 47,000
participants – were cancelled or deferred to a later date. These events
are: Expo Danza, Expo Meetings Mexico, Congress of Pediatric Orthodontists and
the International League of Tae Kwan Do.
In Los Cabos, hotel occupancy levels dropped by
28%; Puerto Vallarta
recorded 257 hotel night cancellations which translate into 1.6 million pesos
in daily losses.
On the other hand, the Minister of Tourism
confirmed that there have been flight cancellations from Cuba, Canada
and Argentina and a
reduction in flights from the United
States by Continental Airlines. Meanwhile Ecuador, Peru
and Chile
have followed suit.
Regarding
the cruise ship sector, Mexican ports have received the cancelation of 64
arrivals which would have produced a potential disembarking of 134,000
passengers; this represents a revenue loss of approximately 10 million U.S.
dollars.
Elizondo emphasized that as soon as there is a
complete analysis of the situation at Mexico’s resort destinations,
the tourism industry will be able to establish an action plan that will support
the country’s productive sector. He concluded expressing that for now,
monitoring and information gathering will continue at the various tourist
destinations in the country.
