As of June 8, Mexico’s most popular tourist destinations of Cancun, Playa Del Carmen, Tulum and the surrounding areas of Riviera Maya have officially reopened to tourists.
The catch
As expected, there are restrictions and precautions that come along with the reopening. Hotels, restaurants, historic sites, parks, golf courses, tours, and other tourist-based businesses can open at 30% of their normal capacity. Public beaches will remain closed for now, while the beaches of resorts and hotels will be opened back up. Other tourist attractions like shopping malls, stores, and spas will also open. Bars, night clubs, and gyms will remain closed.
The Incentives
To help generate interest, the local hotel associations launched the #Come2MexicanCaribbean campaign on June 15. Offers vary, but will include things like two-for-one deals on hotels, resorts, rental cars, activities, parks and excursions.
The Safety Measures
In order to ensure that the strict health & safety protocols are followed, the state of Quintana Roo launched a certification program for hospitality & tourism companies like hotels, resorts, parks and restaurants. So far, more than 2500 companies and service providers in the hospitality and tourism sector have been certified by the state.
On top of all this, most companies have created their own comprehensive health & safety protocols like Grupo Xcaret’s Xafety 360 and Hard Rock’s Safe + Sound.
At first glance, this would seem like a great time to visit the Mexican Caribbean, but just because restrictions have been loosened doesn’t mean the threat of COVID-19 is gone.
The survey results
On trusting government travel advisories
31% of consumers globally say they trust their government’s advice on when it will be safe to travel again, that number is only 20% for consumers in the USA. Source: globalwebindex.
When it comes to the Mexican government’s guidance, how trustworthy do you believe it to be?
On travel finances
A survey of US & UK travellers who faced delayed or cancelled trips due to COVID reveals that 43% plan to save that money, while 33% plan to use the money to re-book their vacation for another date this year.
If you’ve faced cancelled trips, what do you plan to do with the money that was (hopefully) refunded?
On traveling during the outbreak
Of those surveyed, 36% of vacationers said they could not be persuaded to travel at all during the coronavirus outbreak. But a strong travel insurance policy (26%) and flight discounts (19%) would attract some travelers to book during this time.
Do you think you could be persuaded to travel during the outbreak? If so, what would it take to convince you?
Your thoughts?
There’s a lot of discussion online about when it’ll be safe to travel. Until a vaccine is proven and readily available, nobody can provide a definitive answer. Deciding whether or not to travel before then is a matter of your risk tolerance, pre-existing health conditions, travel restrictions, and various other factors.
With restrictions slowly being lifted, what are your thoughts regarding travel? Do you plan to travel anytime soon? Do you think the measures being taken are enough to protect you while traveling? For those that plan to travel this year, what are you looking forward to the most?
Let us know in the comments!