Down in Mexico, they are talking about reopening the economy.
Tourism Minister Marisol Vanegas Pérez burst a few bubbles when she said that “it’s not true that they’ll be able to reopen, since the companies themselves don’t determine that, nor the market. It will be the federal and state governments.”
She added that the only hotels that should be open for the foreseeable future are those providing service for people carrying out activities deemed essential during the coronavirus pandemic.
This is more than a health story. It is a huge economic story because Cancun is a major source of hard currency for Mexico.
In 2017, according to Statista, 6 million international tourists visited Cancun. It’s been growing consistently and expected to hit 9 million in 2025.
The economic impact is notable. If tourism, for example, was cut in half, the country would lose US$ 7 billion. How big is that? Mexico’s GDP is U.S. $ 1.2 trillion. In other words, we are talking a big cut in the economy.
Cancun does have a huge advantage. Most of the major hotels, or at least the ones that get U.S. tourists, are international names. Tourists know these names and have stayed there before.
Cancun’s big problem is convincing tourists to travel, period. It may be a while before tourists hop on a plane in Dallas and spend a long weekend or honeymoon in Cancun.
Finally, it does not help that there is so much confusion about the virus numbers in Mexico.
