Cancun Prepares For Busy February As Hotels Fill Up Fast
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Cancun is preparing for what’s looking like a busy February, as hotels are already filling up with reservations for the coming month. The end of last year saw a boom in the number of travelers heading to the city, with records seemingly broken with each passing week as millions of travelers scrambled to visit the world’s most in-demand destination. Now, it seems traveler numbers are picking up once more as Cancun looks to continue building on the successes of 2022.
With the weather still good, the beaches free of stinky sargassum, and still tons of flight options available to those looking to travel from all over North America, February is one of the best times to visit Cancun – and it seems thousands of travelers have already received that memo. Here’s a closer look at the details surrounding the high hotel occupancy rates in Cancun this February, plus why it’s a top time to visit and which other destinations across Mexico are also experiencing a boom.
February Filling Up – Information For Travelers
Despite long-standing records being broken several times at the end of 2022, Cancun appears to be well on course for yet another year of crowds and sold-out hotels. Next week will see the first bank holiday of the year in Mexico, and with it comes a large number of travelers descending upon the country’s most popular vacation spots in search of rest and relaxation – and, as far as Cancun is concerned, the numbers are already better than those of last year by a considerable margin.
Between the February 3rd to February 6th holidays, a staggering 1.5 million travelers are expected to check in to hotels in Cancun. To put that into context, that’s more than 25% more than the number of travelers who visited Cancun during the same period last year – a year in which new traveler number-related records were made for Cancun. According to the Cancun Hotel Association, such traveler numbers are expected to generate more than 4.3 billion pesos (around $230m USD).
Occupancy levels in Cancun for that holiday weekend are currently sitting at the lofty heights of 77.2%, a significant total coming so soon after the festive and New Year holidays. With the figure so high, travelers hoping to book a last-minute trip to Cancun for that period may struggle to find availability in their preferred resorts and could be forced to pay a premium for a room that would be cheaper at any other time.
It comes as a little surprise that Cancun is proving to be so popular, with February considered to be one of the best times to visit the city before the next high season comes around. That’s largely due to the fact that it’s one of the last months where the beaches are largely free of the invasive, stinky seaweed, sargassum. With the algae expected to be back on the sand with a vengeance from March, February could be the last chance to enjoy clear beaches for several months.
Given that February is also in the middle of the high season, it’s also a convenient time to visit Cancun. Most of the seasonal flights are still leaving from North America to Cancun, making travel to the city both easy and flexible. On top of this, the weather in the city is relatively cool and calm, with the sun not too hot and rain not expected to ruin too many days spent on the beach.
Surprisingly, however, Cancun isn’t the most booked place in Mexico for the bank holiday period. Leading the charge in terms of hotel occupancy between February 3rd and February 6th is Nuevo Vallarta, the resort town just north of Puerto Vallarta, with an occupancy rate of 91.3%. Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Maya are also just ahead of Cancun, with occupancy rates of 84.4% and 78.6% respectively, while Los Cabos and Acapulco are just behind, with their hotel occupancy rates currently sitting at 76.2% and 68.5%.
One thing to keep in mind when interpreting these figures is that each area has different amounts of hotels. Cancun could very well have more people within the area, but it also has more hotel options, meaning occupancy is not filled as quickly.
