Travel to Mexico Now Cheaper
Instead of bikinis, tank tops and board shorts, surgical face masks are now the new trend for those who travel to Mexico. The H1N1 flu virus scare has definitely affected not only the Mexican summer fashion but greatly the whole tourism itself.
The Mexican government is now giving $2.1 billion worth of loans and tax breaks to aid their economy in recovering from the disastrous effects of the swine flu. Tourism received most attention with $450 million intended for airlines and hotel loans, port and airport fees as well as tax holidays and write-offs.
The government had to act to save their $13.3 billion-earning, 2 million people-employing foreign tourism industry that also accounts for eight percent of their economy.
The worst estimated loss that the flu could bring may cost Mexico $5 billion for this year alone and 0.3 to as high as 0.5 percent of their GDP.
Continental Airlines have cut their number of flights to Mexico by half. Hotel guests do not just cancel, they just do not come at all. Cruise ships even cancelled almost all their ports of call in the country.
The Cancun Hotel Association announced that hotel occupancy continued to fall, from about 77 percent to 42 percent by the end of April, and then 23 percent just recently.
In Mexico City, hotel occupancy also fell to approximately 10 percent with the entire city closing down. The city government estimates that it is losing about $10 million each day. They are just hoping that once they say the city is really safe, the entire world will believe them.
With Mexico temporarily closed right now, not by their choice but the United State’s and other countries, Mexico is doing necessary steps to help their own recovery.
This calls for bargains!
To attract hotel occupancy, many hotels have cut down prices sharply: vacation deals are 70 percent more affordable for May and about 50 percent less expensive for June. There are also tons of vacation package deals available this summer.
AM Resorts even announced a flu-free guarantee at 10 of its 11 hotels. In case an unlucky vacationer picks up the dreaded flu virus at their resort, the company will give 3 free vacations for the next 3 years. Besides that deal, they are also giving out 37-55 percent and $250 worth of credits for food and other commodities.
Fortunately, the flu scare has been slowing down a bit.
The Cancun Hotel Association is planning to begin their tourism stimulus by working with travel agents based in Mexico. Then, once the flu warning is lifted, they can begin working with US – based tour operators and other operators in the world. Hopefully this will bring back the visitors.
Once the flu-scare dies down, cheaper airfare, affordable cruise packages and more vacation deals could definitely bring back visitors.
