Mexico City, Apr 2 (EFE).- Mexico begins Easter with an expectation of income of more than 160,000 million pesos (about 8,880 million dollars) amid a rebound in domestic consumption that points to recovery levels pre-pandemic in commerce, services and tourism, despite challenges such as insecurity and inflation.
In an interview with EFE, the president of the Confederation of National Chambers of Commerce, Services and Tourism (Concanaco Servytur), Héctor Tejada, highlighted that the Catholic celebration during this 2023, after the elimination of restrictive measures by covid-19, ” It will mean an economic benefit that has not been seen in 3 years”.
He indicated that in the period from April 2 to 10, a hotel occupancy of 85% is expected, which would mean that more than 11 million tourists visit the different destinations.
In addition, he said that the destinations that expect the greatest influx are: Acapulco (92%), Veracruz (90%), Oaxaca (90%), Riviera Maya (85%), Yucatán (85%), San Cristóbal de las Casas (85%), %)), San Juan del Río (85%), Coahuila (78%), Baja California Sur (75%), Nuevo León (73%), Mexico City (68%) and Puerto Vallarta (61%).
The business leader stressed the importance of supporting formal businesses in the country, in order to maintain local tourism as one of the most important activities for the country’s economy, since it contributes more than 8% of the gross domestic product (GDP).
This occurs in the midst of inflation that has been declining for four consecutive fortnights to a level of 7.12%, which continues to put pressure on the pockets of Mexicans due to sustained increases in the prices of basic supplies of the Mexican diet such as tomatoes, the egg or the chicken.
INSECURITY, A RED FLAG
The rest period in Mexico comes amid calls for tourists from the US, who are alerted by the State Department not to travel to Mexico, which has denounced that there are regions controlled by organized crime and its high level of crime, closing 2022 with 30,968 intentional homicides, according to official data.
However, various state tourism secretaries told EFE that “the main Mexican destinations are safe” and that efforts are focused on a greater presence of local security, civil protection, tourist police, among other actors, as well as campaigns of information.
The secretary of the state of Baja California, Miguel Aguiñiga, asserted that the alerts have always existed and that they increase even more when these holidays coincide with the popular “spring break”.
He pointed out that although what the US government says cannot be controlled, insecurity in Mexico is attacked with information campaigns.
Meanwhile, the head of tourism in Zacatecas, Leroy Barragán, commented that insecurity is an issue that harms the entire country, and in which his entity has been “very hurt.”
He pointed out that among the measures implemented in his state is the increase in public security agents, the militarized National Guard and the Army, as well as greater vigilance on the highways in conjunction with central Mexican states such as Querétaro, Guanajuato and San Luis. Potosi.
In this sense, the Nuevo León tourism secretary, Maricarmen Martínez, said that an effort has been made to build roads in the entity, so that tourists do not have to leave this state and expose themselves to violence.
For her part, the head of tourism for the state of Jalisco, Claudia Vanessa Pérez, maintained that in this state there has not been a single incident with tourists and insisted on “reporting correctly, since when an incident occurs in the country it is related to all tourist destinations alike.
Jorge Cabrejos, marketing director of the Guanajuato State Secretary of Tourism, pointed out that although violent events occur in the country, the states continue to hold tourist events, since “if something were not controlled, the world-class events that happen in the country and the state, they would not happen”.
