At the start of the peak summer season, occupancy rates in Cancún remain below 80%.
The official expectation is to attract 2.2 million tourists in the next five weeks to the 11 destinations in Quintana Roo, but the reduction in air routes to Cancún and the sargassum have caused the hotel sector to moderate its confidence in this summer’s results.
The hotelier leader of Cancún, Puerto Morelos, and Isla Mujeres, Rodrigo de la Peña, said he is confident that the Mexican Caribbean will have a “good summer” in 2025, with occupancy rates between 79% and 80%, “which isn’t bad, but I don’t think we’ll reach 82%.”
I’m confident that the promotional efforts will be effective and, above all, that there will be a significant response from the domestic market, which traditionally travels the most during this holiday season. However, he acknowledged that the peak summer season, which officially began last July 15, will be lower by 2024.
“I estimate we’ll end up at around 79-80% occupancy, which isn’t bad. We were looking at the numbers and compared to other locations, we’re up. We’re expecting a good season… so compared to last year, we closed at 82% occupancy. I don’t think we’ll reach that 82% this year; we’ll be two or three points lower,” the hotel leader explained.
He announced that they are conducting “censuses” on cancellations due to the sargassum issue and, so far, he asserted that there has been more media hype surrounding this issue than actual impacts.
“We’ve had cancellations at some hotels like Hard Rock between 10 and 20 in the last month, and at Dreams Vista and Grand Oasis, we’ve had 3 to 6 cancellations. There are none in Puerto Morelos, and 4 or 5 early departures in Cancun. I don’t have any data on this in Tulum.”
He insisted that these are isolated cases that don’t represent the general perception of tourists visiting Cancun, many of whom limit themselves to hotel pools, without noticing whether the beach has sargassum or not.
In this regard, he announced that they are promoting positive campaigns in target markets regarding specific attractions such as the best pool in Cancun, the best spa, or the best restaurant, to highlight the endless activities the destination offers beyond the sun and the beach.
Source: eleconomista
