“Yucatan stands out as spearhead in the Mayan World region thanks to Mérida which has registered an average hotel occupancy of 63% in 2017, as a result of an effective advertising and communication strategy”, said the head of the Secretariat of Tourism Development (Sefotur), Saul Ancona Salazar.
In a press conference, the official said that in the same period, the Yucatecan capital was in the first place in “tourism influx” with an overnight stay, with 45.5 percent. In addition, in the section of Tourist Centers of the Mayan World, Mérida is among the five sites with the highest hotel occupancy, occupied rooms and arrival of national and foreign visitors.
“The growing tourism that exists in the city is complemented with that of other cities in Yucatan, because it has increased in Valladolid, Izamal, Sisal, Celestún, Homún and Río Lagartos, for example. In these and other places the influx of visitors continues to be promoted, because this is the way economic income is generated that benefits many families that depend on tourism as their main source of income” he said.
He added that, when comparing Merida with other 42 major cities in Mexico, the third place in percentage of hotel occupancy, with 63.48%, was achieved in 2017; as well as in the arrival of tourists with overnight stays and occupied rooms, only behind San Luis Potosí and Puebla.
As for the segment of meetings, Ancona Salazar indicated that for this year 50 events were scheduled in the capital, of which 26 will be in various venues, 16, in the new International Conference Center “Powered by Samsung” and eight more in the Yucatan Convention Center XXI Century. In addition, he remarked that the promotion work continues and so the number are likely to increase.
“From 2013 to 2017, tourism grew exponentially in terms of dissemination through social networks. We went from having 38, 900 to more than 150,000 followers on Facebook and from 6,300 to more than 17,000 on Twitter, which makes possible to reach more people and attract more visitors from all over the world”, explained the head of the Sefotur.
He added that in 2017 more than 100 million pesos were invested in advertising and prommotion, and that a similar amount is expected in this year to continue promoting multi-segment tourism.
“The travel items in which the state of Yucatan has the greatest impact are meetings, cultural tourism, vacations, romance with weddings and related events, as well as luxury. We have segments in development such as education, medical, second home and sports, gastronomy is transversal to others” Ancona Salazar concluded.
Source: mipuntodevista.com.mx
