The Hotel Association of the Riviera Maya is anticipating similar hotel occupancy rates that were seen in 2008 before the widely over-sensationalized Swine-Flu scare of 2009 emptied rooms overnight.
“We expect that on average (occupancy) levels will be above 80 percent and during the Easter peak to reach 90 percent, this is the time when we have mainly domestic visitors and from Mexico, Monterrey, Guadalajara and the Peninsula Yucatan,” said Manuel Paredes, director of the AHRM.
He also mentioned that the Riviera Maya continues to enjoy a good reputation nationally, in part because the travel packages being offered are very attractive. This therefore causes a significant increase in both occupancy rate and the number of tourists arriving.10% – 15% of all domestic tourists will venture to the Riviera Maya this year and will account for around 50% of total occupancy during the Easter season.
“It’s a higher number of tourists we have in relation to previous years and we hope, that little by little, we achieve the occupancy rate similar to 2008.” he said, commenting on how 2009 cannot be used as a comparison due to the H1N1 influenza warnings. He also stated that the numbers reflect that the Riviera Maya is consolidating itself as a destination in terms of recovery so it could expect to maintain the occupancy rates of the previous year.
“Last year we had 3 million 300 thousand tourists in the year, and we hope that this year to exceed those expectations, with the actual numbers to come will show we achieved this goal.”
