Researchers from the University of the Caribbean (Unicaribe) presented the results of the research called “Tourism businesses on Caribbean beaches”, in which they compared the tourist destination of Cancun with Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic and with Puerto Rico, and concluded that in the near future Cancun will become a condominium destination, so business projections should be oriented in that direction.
The research, carried out by Ricardo Sonda de la Rosa, Concepción Escalona Hernández and Regina Pérez Barraza, of the Sustainable Tourism and Hotel Management program, had the objective of knowing the commercial activities: formal or informal, family or corporate, micro or large, in the “beach area”, and compare Cancun, Punta Cana and Puerto Rico, in order to find out the present decision making and the future establishment of strategies that will rule the tourist activity in the Caribbean.
While presenting the results, within the framework of the Permanent Seminar on Research “Integra”, Sonda explained that the initiative to investigate tourist businesses on beach areas arose from a multidisciplinary study of an academic group, from a legal, symbolic and commercial point of view.
He said that comparing Cancun with other tourist destinations will serve as a mirror to know where is it going, and make assertive decisions on productivity, efficiency and effectiveness in the tourism industry.
“The speed and diversification will depend on the legislation, the permits that are authorized to develop this new market segment and diversify it”, Ricardo Sonda de la Rosa stated.
Among the relevant results of the research, it is worth noting that in Puerto Rico, 30 years older than Cancún, 40 percent of the rooms are houses and 26 percent are apartments; Cancun has 62 hotels in the beach area, unlike the 18 in Punta Cana and 7 in San Juan de Puerto Rico. Consequently, the commercial offer is modified to cover the needs of the permanent or temporary residents.
He affirmed that the tendency of tourist destinations is to be populated by condominiums and second homes. In Cancún, this situation can be seen in the medium and long term.
The objective of the Integral Seminar is to share among the academic bodies and the university community the most significant projects, experiences and findings of the production carried out by the teaching staff of the University of the Caribbean to promote dialogue, coexistence and the development of pertinent research quality.
TYT Newsroom with information from elfinanciero.com.mx
