Mérida, Yucatán — For the first half of this year, Yucatán’s tourism sector reports historic highs.
Close to 5 billion pesos changed hands, said tourism chief Saúl Ancona Salazar.
Yucatán state closed the first six months of the year with a historic increase in tourist-industry indicators. Hotel occupancy averaged 58.8 percent, an increase of 4.1 percent over the same period in 2016, he said.
By itself, Mérida did even better, up 5.4 percent over last year.
The agency counts an average of 757 visitors per night, the highest since the state statistics agency Datatur started counting in 2006. It is also estimated that in this period, each visitor spent 3,464 pesos per day in Yucatán.
Other six-month statistics:
- Cruise-ship visitors shot up 34 percent, with 206,839 passengers arriving in 67 arrivals.
- Over 1.2 million passengers landed at the airport, up 16.3 percent.
- Hikers in the state’s archaeological and ecological zones increased 14.3 percent, numbering over 1.7 million.
“Yucatan is fashionable and presents us with a great opportunity; we have to be prepared” said the leader of the Business Coordinating Council (CCE), Gustavo Cisneros Buenfil
