The Mayan Train projects and the expansion of Puerto Progreso would achieve communication decentralization in the region.
The development of tourist infrastructure, such as the Maya Train and the expansion of Puerto Progreso Deep Sea Port, would consolidate the current economic project of Yucatán for 2024, which seeks the diversification of activities.
In an interview with El Economista, the head of the Tourism Promotion Secretariat (Sefotur), Michelle Fridman Hirsch, explained that derived from an analysis of opportunities they have identified that with these two projects, developed by the federal government, the decentralization of communication would be successfully achieved in Yucatan.
“It is achieving decentralization for all these millions of tourists who land at the neighboring airport of Quintana Roo, many of whom are already visiting Yucatán. Now they can do it more simply, by rail and sea,” she commented.
It should be noted that according to the Federation Expenditure Budget Project 2024 and the Center for Public Finance Studies, Yucatán is the third entity with the highest amount of investment spending, of 130,256.7 million pesos.
According to the official, the state government’s strategy not only focuses on carrying out coordination work for the Mayan Train, but also on being a tourist reference with the best port for cruise ships on the peninsula.
“This is the expansion of the Puerto Progreso Deep Sea Port. This will allow us to receive larger boats. Today Progreso has certain limitations due to its size for cruise ships. “We are preparing a package of major works, which will allow us to receive larger vessels,” she said.
With the development of this infrastructure, she assured that they would also continue to seek to meet the objective of tourism having a greater weight in the state GDP. This is under the premise that the activity contributes 11.1% to Yucatán’s GDP, which is above the national average (8.5 percent).
Yucatan is also in seventh position at the national level with respect to the states that have the greatest contribution of tourism to the state GDP.
The official indicated that in addition to the development of infrastructure, the element of security is added, since the entity continues to position itself with the lowest crime rates internationally.
These elements are causing private investment to increase and Yucatán is the fourth entity with the most attraction of private tourism investment, she explained.
Until August 31, he said, investments in the tourism sector exceed 31,412 million pesos: 54% are located in Mérida and 46% in the interior of the state. Of the amount of private capital, more than 30% belongs solely to hotels.
Adding that from 2019 to 2023, private investment in the tourism sector has increased 281%, the head of Sefotur indicated that the raising of private capital is projected to grow more with the Mayan Train and the work in Puerto Progreso.
Connectivity
The secretary indicated that the development of tourist infrastructure by air is also important, which is why work was carried out to achieve the installation of the VivaAerobus operations base in Yucatán.
“This has resulted in an increase in national and international routes, as well as this has been reflected in the increase in visitors to the state, with last year being the year in which the most tourists have been received,” added Michelle Fridman.
According to information from Sefotur, from January to September of this year, the Manuel Crescencio Rejón International Airport registered the transfer of more than 2 million people, while in 2022 there were 3.2 million passengers, placing it as the historical maximum.
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