While this year the hotel industry in Cancun has shown a significant recovery, the hotel room rates have been cut by almost half compared to 2019. Even so, hoteliers remain optimistic, hoping that fewer restrictions of international travel will be able to offset the decreased prices.
According to Roberto Cintrón, President of the Cancun, Puerto Morelos, and Isla Mujeres Hotel Association, hotel room rates have been reduced 55% on average, but since government has kept destinations open, it has allowed them to get closer to pre-pandemic levels.
One of the most important markets for this recovery has been the United States, which already surpassed the number of flights of 2019 to the destination. The Tourism Promotion Council of Quintana Roo reported that the Cancun International Airport had 38 daily flights from the United States in 2019, and they have increased to 47 so far this year.
On the other hand, American arrivals compared to 2019 have not been surpassed yet, but they are very close. This year Cancun has welcomed 2,077,143 American tourists of the 2,146,633 in 2019.
Now it is expected that countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom will ease the travel restrictions, allowing these markets to recover, which were in 2019 the second and third source countries regarding the number of arrivals. The president of the Cancun hotel association also recognized how vital domestic tourism has been for the recovery.
Cancun is facing its first drop in occupancy since the period before summer 2021 when a strong tourist recovery began following the industry collapse over the COVID-19 pandemic. However, travel agencies had predicted the current trend, warning that reservations would go down in September and October.