LGBTQ+ tourism represents a strategic opportunity for Cancún, particularly during low seasons, due to its ability to generate economic activity and maintain the arrival of visitors throughout practically the entire year, said Linger Méndez, founder of Cancún Pride.
The activist noted that Cancún has established itself as a national reference in terms of diversity. She also considered that the growth of this movement has helped position the destination among visitors seeking safe, respectful, and inclusive spaces for their vacations.
She explained that there is still no precise statistic on the number of tourists who travel specifically to participate in Pride Month activities or the march. However, she stated that diversity tourism already generates significant economic activity in the Mexican Caribbean.
As an example, she mentioned the arrival of international groups that have occupied entire hotels for several days. Among them, she cited a group of more than 900 LGBTQ+ visitors who stayed at a hotel in the Hotel Zone and generated significant economic activity.
They Seek to Bring Economic Benefits to Downtown Cancún
Méndez considered it essential that the benefits of this tourism segment not be concentrated solely in the large hotels in the Hotel Zone.
In her view, the activity can also benefit downtown Cancún, as well as restaurants, businesses, and other service providers.
In this way, diversity tourism can become an opportunity to distribute greater economic activity among different sectors of the city.
The founder of Cancún Pride emphasized that this segment represents a potential customer at any time of the year.
For this reason, she considered that it can play an important role in offsetting the decline in visitors during periods of lower occupancy.
Méndez stated that LGBTQ+ travelers tend to allocate more resources to their trips.
According to her explanation, they seek better experiences, accommodations, and services according to their financial possibilities.
This perception, however, should be understood as part of the activist’s experience and assessment, since the information provided does not include a specific statistic measuring the spending of this segment compared with other travelers.
Safety and Respect, Beyond the Celebration
For Méndez, the appeal of LGBTQ+ tourism is not limited to Pride celebrations or related activities.
She emphasized that one of the main factors for this segment is the possibility of enjoying a vacation without fear of experiencing discrimination.
“They want to be at peace, enjoy the beaches, rest, and be themselves,” she said.
For this reason, she considered it necessary to train personnel working in the tourism sector. The objective, she said, should be to guarantee treatment based not only on tolerance, but on respect.
This training can involve hotels, restaurants, tour operators, businesses, and other services that have direct contact with visitors.
Cancún Seeks to Take Advantage of Tourism Throughout the Year
Finally, Méndez considered that Cancún should strengthen its promotion as a safe and inclusive destination.
From her perspective, doing so would make it possible to take advantage of the potential of LGBTQ+ tourism to attract domestic and international visitors throughout the year, especially during periods of lower occupancy.
The goal, she explained, is not only to attract visitors during Pride Month.
It also involves creating conditions so that LGBTQ+ people can find in Cancún a destination where they can vacation, rest, and use services with confidence during any season.
For a tourist destination seeking to maintain its activity beyond periods of peak demand, this segment represents an additional opportunity to reduce seasonality and expand economic benefits to different sectors of the city.
Source: quintanaroohoy
