Last Updated
Quintana Roo’s Growth Continues Long After The COVID Surge
Cancun and the rest of Quintana Roo will have another two thousand rooms added over the course of the next year. The figures point towards continued growth in the Mexican Caribbean.
The figures, which were announced by the local government, will be welcome news for the tourist industry which is emerging from two years of pandemic-related problems. Although Mexico never shut down, many countries made it virtually impossible for their citizens to leave, severely hampering the amount of business that could be achieved.
The rooms are coming in the form of heavy investment from major hotel groups and smaller boutique groups that are seeking to capitalize on the increased interest in the area. In total, over a billion dollars has been injected into the projects around the state.
According to the secretary of tourism, Bernardo Cueto Riestra, the region is maintaining a realistic understanding of what is needed, noting that their goals”It is not only to grow in the number of rooms, but also to ensure that they maintain good hotel occupancy, since this means a greater economic benefit, employment in favor of families.”
It should be noted that the investment for 2022 is actually significantly less than 2021 which saw a massive amount of new hotels from some of the world’s biggest chains moving into Quintana Roo.
Some notable new additions to the state’s inventory of hotels include the new Hilton All-Inclusive Resort in Cancun. The massive hotel has set the standard for high end resorts in the region and is set to be joined buy no less than six other Hilton properties in Cancun, Tulum, and in between. Hilton alone has spent millions in the region in just two years and was even the first hotel chain to place a hotel directly inside the Cancun International Airport.
Wyndham just inaugurated their new hotel this week, and several other chains have plans to build in the area in the coming months.
It’s not all smooth sailing for the hotels, however. Many of the hotels and restaurants in the region are still struggling with the effects of COVID in the form of staff shortages. When the tourist industry dried up many of the trained workers headed back inland to their hometowns and other towns searching for work. Many founded their own businesses or found good positions which meant they didn’t need to return to the coast.
The shortages are still impacting the hotels and many have started campaigns across the country to search for trained staff. Work fairs and other methods are trying to entice workers to the state, but it will be a slow process.
Focussing on keeping the hotel occupancy up is another challenge that is tough to predict in the current climate. During the pandemic, Mexico’s relaxed stance on restrictions allowed Quintana Roo to thrive as millions flocked to one of the few open regions on the planet.
Now, other Caribbean destinations as well as European hotspots have dropped most of their own rules and are accepting travelers from all around the world. With the benefit of having no competition now gone, Cancun and Quintana Roo must find ways to hang on to their newer market.
With multiple problems to tackle, it may be an uphill challenge but businesses are obviously showing confidence in the region going forward. There is the worry that the rates may rise considerably and price out many of the visitors but that remains to be seen at this point. The other immediate issues of organized crime and sargassum remain at the forefront of the tourist industry’s mind.
Plan Your Next Cancun Vacation:
Traveler Alert: Don’t Forget Travel Insurance For Your Next Trip!
Choose From Thousands of Cancun and Riviera Maya Hotels, Resorts and Hostels with Free Cancellation On Most Properties
↓ Join the community ↓
The Cancun Sun Community FB group has all the latest travel news, conversations and tourism Q&A’s for the Mexican Caribbean
Subscribe to our Latest Posts
Enter your email address to subscribe to The Cancun Sun’s latest breaking news affecting travelers, straight to your inbox.