Shipping companies are preparing to revisit the Mexican Caribbean, which last year received more than 2,000 “floating hotels”.
Shipping companies such as Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Lines, and Norwegian Cruise Line have already confirmed the arrival of the first ships to Cozumel and Mahahual for the last two months of the year.
The president of the Mexican Cruise Association, Arturo Musi, reported that the Caribbean will be the first to be reactivated because it is one of the most popular routes in the world and only in 2019, the Mexican island received more than 2,000 cruises.
In the Pacific, Norwegian Cruise Line confirmed in November a trip that will depart from Los Angeles, California to the Mexican Riviera, stopping in Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta, and Carnival Cruise Lines plans another that would reach Jalisco beaches in December or January.
“Arrivals restart in November and it is very important because this reactivation will encourage other shipping companies to reopen their routes to Mexico,” Arturo Musi said.
Health protocols to deal with probable cases of Covid-19 on cruise ships
He added that they are working with federal authorities to create a health protocol that gives certainty to shipping companies, indicating what steps should be followed if they were to have a Covid-19 contagion on board.
2020 was going to be a record year for the arrival of cruise ships to the country, as they were expected to bring around 10 and a half million visitors and an approximate economic spill of 1.5 billion US dollars.
In 2019 8.9 million tourists arrived on cruise liners and 10.5 million were expected for 2020, but obviously, due to the pandemic, only 2.8 million were received from January to March.
Only in Puerto Vallarta, they projected the arrival of 350 cruise ships.
He said that in 2021 they expect a slight recovery and in 2022 they expect an excellent year for the industry, driven by discounts of up to 60 percent offered by shipping companies.
