Sunday, April 27, 2025

Spanish chain shuts down hotels on Riviera Maya due to Covid-19

The Spanish hotel chain Riu announced on Thursday that it will temporarily close many of its hotels in Mexico due to the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting downturn in tourism.

Among the hotels set to close effective March 23 are the Lupita, Tequila, Playacar and Palace México hotels in the Riviera Maya region of Quintana Roo as well as the Dunamar property on Costa Mujeres north of Cancún.

Riu said in a statement that other hotels will “gradually” close “depending on occupancy needs.“

The chain, which has 20 properties with more than 11,500 rooms in Mexico, said that its hotels currently have very low occupancy levels and therefore it has to adjust to “the reality of the market at this time.”

Riu employs more than 10,000 people in Mexico, many of whom appear set to be laid off, at least temporarily.

According to a report by the tourism news website Reportur, other Spanish chains that operate hotels in Quintana Roo are also planning month-long closures.

Lenin Amaro Betancourt, president of the Riviera Maya branch of the Business Coordinating Council, said that hotel cancellations are already up 40% over normal levels and that he expects the situation to worsen as Covid-19 continues to spread around the world and more countries close their borders.

He called for financial support from all three levels of government to help tourism-oriented businesses maintain as much of their workforces as possible.

Authorities in Cancún, where hotel occupancy has plummeted this week, have announced that movie theaters, bars, nightclubs, casinos and other venues that bring together large numbers of people will be temporarily closed to limit the spread of coronavirus, which had sickened 164 people in Mexico as of Thursday and killed at least one.

Source: EFE (sp), Reportur (sp) 

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
An ambulance pulls up to a hospital

Christus Health breaks ground on US $100M hospital in Los Cabos

0
The Baja California Sur medical facility will serve the region’s 350,000 residents, including 23,000 U.S. citizens who live in the area.
A photo of a middle aged woman and a young man

Mother and son from search collective that discovered Teuchitlán ranch murdered in Jalisco

2
It's the second killing this month to hit the Guerreros Buscadores de Jalisco search collective, which uncovered the Teuchitlán "extermination camp."
Telecommunication towers silhouetted at sunset

Telecommunications overhaul sparks free speech concerns

15
After U.S. anti-migrant ads aired on Mexican television, President Sheinbaum introduced a reform that would ban them — and overhaul Mexican telecommunications in the process.