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The impact of the war between Russia and Ukraine may be felt in a variety of ways. Certainly, the number of tourists that will be arriving from Russia, and Ukraine to Cancun in the coming months is going to see a massive dip. Still, Moscow flights to Cancun continue to be active despite the ongoing conflict. Whereas any flights out of Ukraine to everywhere have essentially come to a complete stand still.
One of the main issues that could affect the airline industry, and the travel industry then by default is the rise in gasoline prices. Oil prices reached 105 dollars a barrel. That’s the highest price tag on the commodity since 2014. For now, the US sanctions imposed on Russia have more or less spared its energy sector. In the minds of many experts this has prevented an even steeper climb in global oil prices. Still the cost of air travel could be on the rise in the next couple of weeks.
Ukraine & Russian Tourists Love Cancun
Cancun, and the entire Riviera Maya stand to lose a considerable number of visitors thanks to the ongoing conflict. Last year alone both countries sent over a combined number of 269,612 tourists to the region. Russia in particular experienced a massive increase in the number of its citizens that headed over to Cancun for vacation in the last year. A total of 183,700 Russians visited Cancun in the last year. That number more than doubled the amount of Russian tourists who decided to visit the Mexican Riviera Maya the year before.
The numbers were set to continue trending upward in 2022. With over 40 thousand Russian citizens arriving to the Mexican beaches via Cancun in January. Being accompanied by around 13 thousand Ukrainians who also picked these beaches for their beginning of the year vacation.
Nordwind Airlines has continued to operate its direct flight from Moscow to the Cancun airport up until this weekend. At this point in time, there’s no clear sense to whether or not that flight will be able to operate normally in the coming weeks or months.
Cancun Facing More Challenges To Keep Its Tourism Industry Booming
On top of the fact that oil prices may continue to go up, and that will most likely raise the cost of air travel, there are other challenges that Cancun is facing to make sure the local tourism industry can continue to flourish. We are not just talking about the massive lines at the airport! Just this past week the head of the Hotels’ Association in Cancun, and neighboring cities, stated that much of the tourism that was heading to the region was in essence “borrowed”. Travelers were choosing Cancun over other destinations because of the lax COVID protocols in the region.
Some of Cancun’s main rivals for tourist attention are cutting down their COVID restrictions considerably. With some even featuring COVID protocols that are less strict than what you can find here. The Dominican Republic for example, is set to put in place very odd COVID guidelines for travelers. You have to wear a mask basically throughout your entire visit to the airport. Once you’re out into the city though, mask wearing is not required. Also, that particular destination does not ask travelers to bring along a negative COVID test or quarantine at all upon their arrival.
Another main Cancun rival, Jamaica is going to lift it’s toughest travel requirement. Tourists will no longer need to ask for travel authorization. With proof of vaccination you won’t need to present a negative test upon your arrival. They are even reducing quarantine times for travelers who test positive while on the island. The good thing for Cancun though, is that the national tourism industry is due to pick up the slack in the upcoming Easter break. With hotels in Cancun and Playa del Carmen virtually fully booked for the week!
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Raymond
Saturday 26th of February 2022
Russian aircraft should be banned from landing in every country whilst they are carrying out such atrocities. I am surprised that Mexico has not done this.