Excerpt from Mexico News Daily
Occupancy is expected to rise from last year's 59% to 70%
The hotel sector is expecting average occupancy of 70% during the Christmas vacation season, which would be the highest level in the past decade.
The forecast comes from the Mexican Association of Hotels and Motels (AMHM) whose president, Rafael García, said that occupancy in the winter period last year was just 59%, with the September 2017 earthquakes and United States travel alerts both contributing to the low rate.
But this year is expected to be different.
Hotels in destinations such as Cancún, coastal Nayarit, Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo and Acapulco are predicting even higher occupancy rates — 85% and 90% in the holiday season, while for New Year's they expect to be full.
"Occupation will increase from December 20 when school holidays start and continue until January 6, but the best [period] is the end of the year when a 100% occupancy rate is expected at the beach. Already, there are very few spaces left," García said.
Hotel occupancy in Mexico's three largest cities – Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey – over the same period is forecast to be slightly lower than the national average at 65%.
Santiago Mayoral, corporate finance vice-president at City Express Hotels, told the newspaper El Financiero that fewer business trips are made during the winter break.
Although foreign visitor arrivals remain strong, eight of every 10 visitors to Mexican destinations during the upcoming holidays will be domestic tourists, according to the AMHM.
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