Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, is leading the coronavirus recovery in terms of tourism, the hotel data company STR reports.

The city enjoyed an August hotel occupancy rate of 33.9%, better than that of Los Cabos, which saw 25.8% occupancy, and the Mexican Caribbean which had a 25.4% occupancy rate.

All three resort cities beat out tourism to Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey, indicating that leisure tourism is beginning to rebound whereas business travel may be slower to recover.

Luxury and economy-class hotels have been the hardest hit in Mexico with occupancy down 70% over last year while middle and upper middle-category hotels have seen 60% fewer guests in 2020. 

In STR’s webinar presentation at the Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference, the company pointed out that countries such as Peru have benefited from domestic tourism. It also noted that U.S. travelers are interested in traveling to smaller, regional destinations around the country rather than large cities.

Domestic tourism is something Mexico is also focusing on. In 2019, 102.6 million domestic tourists traveled to different destinations within the country. This year Tourism Minister Miguel Torruco says 59 million Mexicans will travel within the country.

On Monday, at a ceremony celebrating the country’s Pueblos Mágicos, or Magical Towns, Torruco unveiled a new national tourism strategy by launching the official Pueblos Mágicos website, a tool connecting potential visitors with attractions and tour operators in any of the designated towns who can now register to be listed on the site free of charge. 

Created to support tourism in towns with unique attractions, the government’s Pueblos Mágicos program has been in operation for 19 years and currently includes 121 destinations.

Source: Forbes (sp)