70,000 TOURISTS HAVE TRAVELED TO CANCUN SINCE REOPENING

Almost 70,000 tourists have visited Cancún since the resort city reopened for tourism almost a month ago according to Municipal tourism official Francisco López.

Approximately 13,000 visitors are currently staying at 120 hotels that reopened at 30% capacity.

Cancun officially reopened for tourism on June 8th despite the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Tourist numbers are expected to grow as flights to Cancún increase and more hotels open.

López said that there is confidence that occupancy levels can reach 50% in the last half of the year.

The Hotel Association of Cancún, Puerto Morelos and Isla Mujeres (AHCPM) said in a statement that all the hotels that have reopened are following strict health and hygiene protocols to protect both guests and their employees from the risk of coronavirus infection.

The AHCPM released the following figures:

• Average occupancy rate over the past month has been 20% in the 6500 hotel rooms that have reopened. 
• In the hotels that have reopened 14,000 rooms remain blocked due to the 30% capacity rule
• 74 hotels with more than 17,600 rooms have not yet reopened

Although flights to Cancún from both domestic and international destinations are still below pre-pandemic levels, air traffic at the city’s airport is increasing. 

About 150 flights landed and took off on both Saturday and Sunday, airport authorities said. Among the international destinations with connections to Cancún are the U.S. cities of Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, Denver, Salt Lake City, Chicago, Baltimore, Charlotte, New York, Miami, Atlanta, Houston and Dallas, and Montreal, Canada.

Mexico does not have any travel restrictions when entering the country. Visitors do not need to self-quarantine or go through any testing making it one of the most popular post pandemic destinations. 

Tourists who have traveled to Cancun have been able to access the city’s famous beaches but local residents are currently being denied entry. 

According to the Mexican constitution. the coastline is a public place. 

AHCPM president Roberto Cintrón Gómez defended the move to open beaches only to tourists on the grounds that it is only a temporary measure reported Mexico News Daily.

“We’ve fought so that visitors can have access to the beaches, with certain restrictions. … The few tourists [in Cancún] are taking a risk by going on vacation but they come for the beach and we must keep that in mind,” he said.

President López Obrador, said he would be investigating with Tourism Minister Miguel Torruco to seek clarification about why the general public has been denied entry.

Quintana Roo, the state where Cancún is located, has recorded 4,245 confirmed covid-19 cases according to the Mexican government.

More than half of the state’s cases have been detected in Benito Juárez (Cancún).