Despite a recent rise in coronavirus cases in Quintana Roo, 90% of hotel construction projects that were halted or postponed due to the pandemic are now back underway, according to Governor Carlos JoaquÃn.
The governor told the newspaper Milenio that 5,000 new hotel rooms are currently being built in the state, home to resort destinations such as Cancún, Playa del Carmen, Tulum and Cozumel. Joaquin also said that several new shopping centers are under construction.
Some of the projects are due to be finished this year while many others are scheduled for completion in early 2022.
According to the Quintana Roo government, among the companies that have restarted hotel projects are AM Resorts, Grupo Posadas (owner of the Fiesta Americana brand), Grupo Tafer and Grupo Lomas, which is building a Nickelodeon resort in the Riviera Maya.
JaoquÃn also said that almost all the jobs lost in Quintana Roo last year due to the pandemic have been recovered. He said that 122,000 jobs were lost in the tourism-oriented state in 2020 but all of them are expected to have been recovered by the end of this month.
Air traffic is also close to getting back to pre-pandemic levels. An average of 600 flights per day arrived at and departed from Quintana Roo airports in 2019, while the figure is now about 518, the governor said.
Cancún and Cozumel airports are among the six busiest in the country, according to federal Tourism Ministry data.
JoaquÃn said that 2.8 million visitors are expected over the summer months, which would represent 80% of 2019 levels when 3.5 million tourists arrived in the Caribbean coast state during the same period.
He acknowledged that cruise ship tourism has barely recovered, with only one ship having docked in the state since the sector came to a halt early last year. Royal Caribbean International’s Adventure of the Seas took approximately 1,000 passengers to Cozumel last month.
JoaquÃn said the frequency with which cruise ships are docking in Quintana Roo will increase starting this month.
With reports from Milenio
