During the World Travel and Tourism Council congress, Yucatán Gov. Mauricio Vila Dosal spoke with several business leaders, including the CEO of Carnival cruises Arnold Donald. The governor expressed a willingness to do everything in his power to ensure that cruise ships could return to Progreso as soon as possible.
According to tourism secretary, Michelle Fridman Hirsch, Yucatán could expect to see the return of cruise ships as early as this summer.
“It is essential to consider biosecurity, ecological and social issues when designing strategies to get the tourism industry on a firm footing again,” said Yucatán Gov. Mauricio Vila Dosal
The president of Mexico’s tourism council took up the opportunity to talk up Yucatán as an ideal location for international tourism industry investment.
“Yucatán has everything going for it. It is secure, has great natural beauty and world-class infrastructure. It is truly the ideal spot to invest,” said Mexico’s tourism council president Braulio Arsuaga Losada.
The congress was held in Cancún, however, many international attendees used video calling platforms to participate.
Earlier: Women make up over 84% of the unemployed in Yucatán
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Yucatán has officially lost 30,000 jobs.
However, even the government acknowledges that the real numbers are likely three times higher.
Over 60% of workers are employed informally, meaning that they are virtually invisible to government statistics and do not collect benefits such as social security and INFONAVIT credits.
The reactivation of the tourism industry in Yucatán has contributed to the recovery of 10,000 jobs across the state, according to official government sources.
Despite some encouraging signs for the tourism industry as a whole, Yucatán’s hotel association warns that several hotels are at grave risk of closing down for good.
The process of economic reactivation has been very slow, as well as uneven, acknowledged the president of Coparmex-Yucatán, Fernando Ponce Díaz, pointing out that trade and construction have roared ahead while tourism and retail have not been able to regain their footing.
