Tourism for the Day of the Dead festivities is expected to provide a significant economic boom this weekend.
Hotels are currently reporting 75.8% occupancy rates nationwide, and the tourism sector is expected to see an influx of almost 2 billion pesos (US $104 million).
Federal Tourism Secretary Miguel Torruco said he anticipates 829,000 Mexican citizens will travel for Day of the Dead.
He added that Mexico City hotels should see 87.5% occupancy thanks to 85,000 tourists visiting the nation’s capital, bringing 85.6 million pesos (US $4.5 million) to the city’s accommodations sector.
Mexico City has the highest number of hotel reservations in the country for the Day of the Dead weekend, according to Booking.com.
“The Day of the Dead celebration has become a huge opportunity for people to get away and live the experience in other parts of the country, without being an official holiday,” said Ezequiel Rubín, country manager at the travel website Despegar.com.
Bacalar, Quintana Roo, Taxco, Guerrero, Tequisquiapan, Querétaro and Valle de Bravo, in Mexico State are some of the Pueblos Mágicos (Magical Towns) with the most reservations in the country.
In Michoacán, Morelia, Pátzcuaro and Uruapan have reported 100% hotel occupancy rates, according to state Tourism Secretary Claudia Chávez López. She said the Noche de Ánimas (Night of Souls) festival is expected to bring 200,000 foreign and domestic tourists to the Lake Pátzcuaro region.
She said hotels are expected to be full despite the state’s high levels of insecurity.
Tourist destinations in Guerrero have reported 90% occupancy rates due to an expected 300,000 visitors between Friday and Sunday.
State tourism undersecretary Noé Peralta Herrera said the anticipated number of visitors could easily be surpassed since many have vacation homes, rent condos or stay with friends and family who live in the state.
“Although we don’t officially have an exact figure for how many people will stay at their own properties, rent rooms on mobile applications or stay with family or friends, the economic influx they will generate is also very important for thousands of families who directly or indirectly depend on the tourism industry in Acapulco, Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo and Taxco,” Peralta said.
Source: El Financiero (sp)
