The Xcaret parks of the Riviera Maya in the Mexican Caribbean have managed to take advantage of the natural wealth of the Yucatan Peninsula in combination with the preservation of the environment to attract a vanguard tourism, and have become a reference in Mexico’s tourism industry.
Around a third of the tourists that visit Cancun, the Riviera Maya and the rest of the destinations of Quintana Roo go to the parks of Xcaret in a concept similar to the Disney parks in the U.S.
“We have taken advantage of all the natural beauty of the area to offer tourists something totally different with underground rivers, caves, jungle tours, cenotes and all of this within an environment of ecologic preservation,” said Efe Carlos Constandse, vice president of the Xcaret group.
“Our group has revolutionized the concept of quality tourism in Mexico since 1986, and today we have broken with traditional travel schemes in order to offer something totally different to the tourist,” said Carlos Constandse at the presentation of the new Xcaret Mexico hotel built in the middle of the jungle with the idea of combining luxury with sustainable practices.
For 2018, Constandase estimates that 3.6 million tourists will visit the parks, which represents 32% of all tourists who visit this area of the Yucatan Peninsula annually, and who mostly come from the United States, Canada, some European countries and of course, Mexico.
“With the new Xcaret Mexico hotel, natural caverns and underground rivers have been enabled and the hotel location combines these natural wonders with lush vegetation and state-of-the-art accommodations in a unique experience for the traveler,” said Constandse.
“The ambitious goal of the group is to build six thousand new hotel rooms, a convention center and a multipurpose arena in the coming years, to allow the celebration of all kinds of recreational and entertainment events and activities” underlined the Xcaret Group Vicepresident.
“Since its opening in December 1990, the Xcaret ecological park is considered one of the main attractions of the Cancun-Riviera Maya area, always promoting a sustainable recreational tourism combining fun, culture, archeology, natural resources and history” added Constandse.
Hotel Xcaret Mexico makes grand debut in Cancun/Riviera Maya
“Xcaret is a huge park by the sea where the history of Mexico is revived through traditions and shows, amidst native Yucatan flora and fauna”.
The other parks in operation are the Xel-Há, the Xplor adventure, Xoximilco, the Xenotes Oasis Maya Tour, the only one with four different types of cenotes, in addition to the Archaeological Tours to Chichén Itzá, Tulum and Cobá which are some of the most representative sites of the Maya world in the Yucatan Peninsula.
“The rising figures at the Cancun-Riviera Maya destinations are in line with the increase in the number of tourists in Mexico, which is the eighth country in the world when it comes to Tourism. In 2017, Mexico also reached a historic peak in the foreign currency atraction, featuring an economic impact of 21 billion US dollars just from tourism, which meant an increase of more than 60 percent compared to 2012” Constandse continued.
Although the largest number of tourists still comes from the US, Mexico has experienced 34% growth in the arrival of European visitors, 97% of tourists from South America and 127% in the arrival of Asians, according to figures of the Tourism Secretariat.
Despite the advances in recent years, Constandase estimates that Mexico must improve, above all, its infrastructure to have a much higher capacity in transport connectivity.
“We have a fleet of luxury buses that transports more than three million tourists who visit our parks every year, but we need better transportation infrastructure nationwide in order to become even more attractive for travelers,” Constandse concluded.
Source: yucatan.com.mx
