May 30 2009
Cut-rate deals lure tourists back to Cancun
By Chris Gray Faust, USA TODAY
In Cancun, most hotels and resorts are offering packages and deals to boost occupancy rates that dropped as low as 20% in early May. The bargains seem to be having an effect: The occupancy rate for Cancun’s hotel zone rose to 43% over Memorial Day weekend, but those numbers are still far from the 85% posted at the same time in 2008.
“Our main concern is to bring back the airlines,” says Jesus Almaguer, CEO of the Cancun Convention & Visitors Bureau. While several American carriers cut their capacity, large European tour operators such as Thomas Cook canceled all trips until this past week — leading Cancun to lose an estimated $20 million every five days for much of May, Almaguer says.
Besides increasing airlift, the Cancun visitors bureau has been filming testimonials from visitors already in Mexico, hoping that word of mouth will entice last-minute summer bookings. Europeans have long booked holidays with little lead time; since the economic downturn last year, Americans and Canadians have adopted similar patterns, Almaguer says.
“We expect the numbers to get higher by July,” he says.
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