Wednesday, July 9, 2025

Riviera Maya hotels keeping rates down to attract more tourists

Riviera Maya hotels won’t raise their rates during the end-of-year vacation period in a bid to attract more tourists from Canada and the United States.

Riviera Maya Hotel Association vice president Andrea Lotito said the price-hike embargo will remain in place for more than 46,000 hotel rooms until June next year as part of a strategy to boost visitor numbers to Mexico’s Caribbean coast.

Insecurity and the annual arrival of sargassum have damaged the region’s image, she said.

“. . . It’s difficult to attract tourists from the United States and Canada precisely . . . due to the negative publicity,” Lotito said.

She added that the rise in popularity of vacation rentals (on sites such as Airbnb) have also hurt the Quintana Roo hotel industry.

Hotels have been seeing lower occupancy levels in most destinations in 2019.

Mexican Hotel and Motel Association (AMHM) president Juan José Fernández Carillo said on Wednesday that the outbreak of violence in Culiacán, Sinaloa, triggered by an operation to catch one of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s sons and other violent acts elsewhere in the country have given Mexico a bad name.

Speaking at the AMHM national meeting in Tampico, Tamaulipas, he claimed that international security perceptions of Mexico are on a par with countries that are at war.

“That’s why national and foreign tourists don’t travel. The decline in [hotel] occupancy in all destinations . . . doesn’t just affect hotel owners but also businesses and [service] providers that live off tourism. The federal government is responsible for security and must improve it,” Fernández said.

The hotel association chief also said that hotel owners are also struggling due to the downturn in the economy and high electricity prices.

“There are hotels that paid 300,000 pesos before but this year [electricity] increased to 1.2 million pesos. They can’t invest or promote themselves because the services [they have to pay] are expensive.”

Source: Reportur (sp), Milenio (sp) 

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
Tijuana, Baja California

MND Local: Baja California and Tijuana local news

0
A hugely successful conference, roaming opera performances and a vintage year for the wine industry are all part of our news update from the northern border.
withdrawing cash

‘Our cash is in limbo’: Readers share how US sanctions on CIBanco, Intercam have affected their financial lives

12
From the survey responses we received, we got a sense of the frustration and anger of Intercam and CIBanco customers. Here's what readers are doing and saying about this uncertain situation.
guns

Heavily armed foreigner impersonating a CIA agent is arrested in México state

4
The suspect, identified by media as a U.S. citizen named “James,” was acting aggressively, wearing a bulletproof vest and tactical gear while brandishing weapons.
BETA Version - Powered by Perplexity