Summer Tourists Hit the Beaches in Mexico Leticia Paula Cruz - The News
go to original July 30, 2012

Los Muertos Beach in Puerto Vallarta (photo by PromoVision)

MEXICO CITY – The number of tourists visiting Mexico’s most important vacation destinations saw a 10 percent year-on-year increase in the first three weeks of the summer holiday season, according to the Secretariat of Tourism (Sectur), which predicted that the last week of July and the first week of August would be the best in the year in terms of hotel occupancy.

Green Angels, a highway assistance program, reported helping 55,000 tourists on the nation’s roads so far.

In a press release, the agency stated that beach destinations reported a year-on-year increase of 15.7 percent. Acapulco reported a 58 percent increase compared with last year’s figures; Veracruz, 24.9 percent; and Manzanillo, 15.8 percent. Puerto Vallarta, Nuevo Vallarta, Cancun and the Mayan Riviera reported a 15.7, 15.2 percent and 11.4 percent year-on-year increase, respectively.

The cities of León, Irapuato and San Juan del Río reported 28 percent, 27.9 percent and 21.7 percent increases.

Mayan World cities also reported an increase in tourists; Villahermosa, Tabasco reported an 8.7 percent increase; Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, 5.3 percent; and Tonalá-Puerto Arista, Chiapas, 8.4 percent.

Colonial cities San Miguel de Allende, Querétaro and Puebla reported an increase of 19.2 percent, 17.6 percent and 9.1 percent.

Hotel occupancy from July 2 through 22 hit 80 percent in beach destinations like Riviera Maya, Cancun, Nuevo Vallarta, Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta; in Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara it was 69 percent, 58 percent and 53 percent, respectively.

The Sectur stated that hotel occupancy grew 7.2 percent in the first 29 weeks of 2012 compared with last year’s figures – a 4.8 percent increase on 2008. On average, 183,869 hotel rooms were in use per day. Green Angels made several recommendations including making sure their vehicles are in good condition.

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