Cancún, Quintana Roo --
In statements to the Q.R. press last week, the president of a national trade association delivered a dire prognosis on local tourism generally and the hotel industry specifically.
Juan Carrillo Padilla, himself a Cancún hotel owner, said many establishments these days average 20% occupancy. At that rate, owners can't meet wages, utilities and taxes, he said.
Padilla responded to some larger hostelries which report they're averaging 45-50% daily occupancy, "Those claims have nothing to do with reality. The truth is, even business in the city center (the hotel zone) is very poor, and I don't see any increase for at least two months."
July and August are the prime vacation months in Mexico, but Padilla said 2012 has been so poor that those few weeks won't significantly help the ailing industry. He noted that 50% occupancy is the minimum necessary to pay employees and cover operational overhead.
Padilla emphasized that Cancún's hotel business is heavily dependent upon visitors from abroad, who have not been arriving in the same numbers "due to the prevailing conditions here." He was referring to the security concerns of many foreign tourists, which may worry Mexican domestic visitors somewhat less, according to some travel experts.
Padilla is the president of an organization known as Turismo de la Cámara Nacional de Comercio (Canaco).
Earlier in the week Cancún's mayor, Julián Ricalde Magaña, said the resort city had "lost its splendor," and noted that those seeking work in the tourism industry were likely to be disappointed by the poor state of affairs and greatly diminished job openings for workers. Claiming that the area's reputation for boundless economic opportunity and easy money was a thing of the past, the mayor quipped that "here the dogs are no longer leashed with sausage." Cancún, no longer an oasis for most.
Very different claims from another group:
In a story reported later today (Sunday, May 6) the Cancún Hotel Association, a separate trade group, alleges the city is experiencing a "tourist bonanza" with an average 72% hotel occupancy rate in recent days. "We're in good shape, and we should continue to operate at about 65-70% occupancy from now until summer vacations begin, when business will really take off" said an Association spokesperson, which represents lodging chains and larger establishments in the beachfront tourist district.
In the same article Mexico's tourism department reported that this year Cancún remained the top choice of American and Canadian spring breakers, despite several travel warnings issued by U.S. officials. The agency said that 66% of all students who traveled to Mexico in March-April 2012 headed either to Cancún (about 30,000) or to Riviera Maya (20,000).
I suspect that the truth of the matter lays somewhere between the extremes reported by these two organizations in a 24 hour period. But based upon what Cancún's mayor himself acknowledged a week ago, I would be inclined to accept the analysis that all is not healthy in the city's hotel and tourism industry. What motive would he have for saying otherwise?
Note: According to Q.R. state government sources, Cancún and the Riviera Maya have a combined 81,000 hotel rooms. More than seven million tourists visited the area in 2011.
July 17 - Cancún continues to suffer from greatly reduced tourist spending, the local press reports today. Most travelers are looking for package deals, with food included in the lodging price, making it extremely difficult to turn a profit according to a hotel trade group official. This year the average tourist will spend about $800 on food and lodging during a Cancún vacation, whereas in the "golden years" of the 1990s the average was $2,000 per person, with a stay of at least five days. Those days are likely gone forever, the official lamented.
Grand Oasis murder case
The mega Oasis Cancún hotel chain filed a formal robbery report with the Quintana Roo state prosecutor's office late last week, alleging a loss of an estimated 648,000 pesos. At an exchange rate of 12.5 pesos to the U.S. dollar, that's about $52,000. Oasis attorneys swore out complaints that the cash was taken from their head cashier, María del Rosario Ramis Carrasco, who was found murdered Monday morning (Apr. 30). The cashier and accountant, who is believed to have been executed the day before, died from asphyxia after her entire head was tightly wrapped in industrial tape. Police investigators believe the robbery may have been staged from within, by a person or persons who had knowledge of the hotel's elaborate security camera system as well as its cash payroll procedures.
Some Oasis employees have told the local press they're convinced the brutal murder was committed by a fellow employee. Attention has shifted to a man who served as Ramis Carrasco's assistant cashier; he has not reported to work since her body was found last week in the hotel administrative offices. Authorities have not yet identified the assistant.
Hotel Oasis Cancún slow in cooperating with police
Brutal execution at Grand Oasis Cancún
No comments:
Post a Comment