The vice president of tourism of Canaco Chetumal-Tulum, José Mac-Liberty, acknowledged that the high season was not very good due to the sargassum issue and because the FIFA World Cup made them appear to be expensive destinations, despite not being World Cup host destinations, as well as because of the negative image they had due to these factors, although government authorities spent considerable time defending the opposite position.
“I would love to say that it was a very prosperous season, but we did have declines,” Mac-Liberty said, adding that “one of the issues that hurts us is the sargassum problem, the issue of aircraft fuel, and also the World Cup; although we were not World Cup destinations, it made us appear to be expensive destinations, and that affected people’s perception when making reservations. I think it was a combination of factors that came together.”
Nevertheless, he stated that they ended the season with occupancy rates between 60% and 70%, which could have reached 80% because it was high season. “Now what we want is to take advantage of tourism promotion so that the end of the year can really give us a clean slate in terms of the image that has affected us so much nationally,” Mac-Liberty commented, according to Noticaribe.
He considered that “perhaps people have a mistaken idea of what is actually happening at the destination in terms of costs, services, and sargassum,” Mac-Liberty stated.
As reported by REPORTUR.mx, the strategy proposed by President Claudia Sheinbaum to address the massive arrival of sargassum should include greater investment in tourism promotion, said Wilbert Gutiérrez Álvarez, president of the Mexican Association of the Real Estate Industry, who complained about the decline in sales due to lower tourism.
“Every effort made to combat the scourge we are currently facing with sargassum is welcome and positive. I believe the announcement of the investment that will be made to address this issue is very important. The truth is that this is a problem that has far exceeded the capabilities of municipal and state authorities,” Gutiérrez Álvarez recently said.
Source: reportur
