Environment and development in coastal regions and in small islands

Appendix I

Cancún is no longer fashionable - hoteleros admit
Ask for end to divisiveness in tourist sector

CANCUN, Q. ROO, May 26, 2000. The president of the Quintana Roo Hotel Association, Javier Aluni Montes called urgently for an end to divisiveness in the sector in order to resolve problems like those generated by the economic drop recorded in the first quarter of this year.

He added that the drop is an indication that Cancún is no longer fashionable and insisted that this vacation center must be redirected toward a clientele with high purchasing power.

"Cancún is no longer the same as it was twenty years ago when everyone wanted to come here because it was new. We must work together to achieve this transition", he said.

(Yesterday we reported that during the first quarter the number of available hotel rooms continued to grow but the financial outfall was 19% less which has not happened in a long time; it dropped from 190 million dollars to 154 million. According to the monthly report of the Quintana Roo Hotel Association there were 25,368 rooms in service in April, up 5.8% from the same month last year. This indicates that 1388 more rooms were built in one year).

The lack of unity among those who should be promoting the principal tourist center of the country was emphasized the day before yesterday during the presentation of the Overall Development Plan for Cancún for the next 25 years.

The subject was also touched on last April when Abelardo Vara Rivera, vice president of the Quintana Roo Hotel Association warned that these times in Cancún are the result of a lack of leadership in the tourist industry and he stressed the importance of joint efforts to 'reposition and redefine' the Mexican Caribbean that currently offers 47,000 rooms as being the most important tourist center in the country.

During the signing ceremony of an agreement to revive the mixed fund for tourist promotion between representatives of the sector and the Ministry of Tourism, Oscar Espinosa Villareal and Aluni Montes, it was stressed that Cancún is changing the direction of its efforts and although it concerns many people, it has ceased being a selective tourist center and has become a playground for the masses. The drop in the local economy is affecting not only the hoteleros, but everyone involved in the industry. Faced with this problem, all of us who depend on tourist activity need to be aware that Cancún is a place to be cared for and the principal concern is to solve all of its problems. It still lives in a buoyant period but there are warning signals from competition in the area

The Major Leagues - Hoteleros, touristeros and authorities of the three levels of government should start to work and think and act differently. The Cancún of 20 years ago no longer exists, now we are in the major leagues and we need to work like it.

It is important that we cover all the details, public safety, traffic, urbanization, services, and above all, quality. I think we are just barely seeing the reality that confronts us and which previously did not exist.

Finally, the next step should be the recovery of room rates and to raise occupancy rates to reverse the decrease in gross revenues.

Diario de Yucatán, 27 May 2000
(Translation by Peter Wiese).

Back