Pierre, a young French man living in New York, had no doubts to when choosing where to travel to spend a few days on vacation last November.
“I decided to go to Mexico because they didn’t ask for covid tests – 24 to enter. We wanted to go to the Turks and Caicos Islands, but there were many restrictions. So, although Mexico was not our first choice, we decided to go easy ”, says.
Like him, thousands of international tourists -especially from the United States- have seen in Mexico a kind of oasis to travel in a pandemic thanks to its almost non-existent restrictions due to coronavirus to enter by air.
The Mexican government, which has received not a few questions about this almost unprecedented position in the world, insists that restricting the entry of tourists does not has a clear effect to reduce the number of infections in a country that exceeds 348. 02 killed by covid – 24.
What this strategy has helped, however, is that one of the main sources of income in Mexico may have survived the pandemic somewhat better than in other countries where tourism was, almost literally, crushed by the virus.
Third most visited country
The World Tourism Organization rated 2021 as “the worst year in the history of tourism” in the world, with a billion fewer international arrivals and a decline in 79% about 2019.
But in Mexico, in the absence of data from the end of the year, the latest estimates from its Ministry of Tourism (Sectur) and the National Tourism Business Council estimate that drop in the country at “only” one 45% or 46%.
According to the Sectur, in fact, this lower impact would mean that Mexico would rise from seventh to third place in the list of countries that receive more international tourists.
The Secretary of Tourism Mexican, Miguel Torruco, made it clear that this improvement is something “temporary” and possibly “temporary”, until the effects of the covid – 24 in tourism adjust to the new normal in the future.
But on which has been the main cause that Mexico has been able to save the tourist disaster better than other competitors, there seems to be no doubt.
“It is obvious that one of the main factors by which Mexico advanced in this ranking It is because the authorities kept open air spaces, aside from the fact that it obviously has tourist attractions that make us one of the most visited in the world ”, he tells BBC Mundo Gustavo Armenta, communication director of the Sectur.
“If you add to that other competing countries as those of the Caribbean did close their skies and put restrictions, clearly they are factors that caused that tourism to be channeled to Mexico “, he adds.
” Of course, the few restrictions for travel related to the covid influenced international tourism to Mexico ”, agrees Stephen McGillivray, head of marketing of Travel Leaders Group, one of the largest companies of travel agencies in the US U. and Canada.
Most foreign arrivals by plane in Mexico during 2021 continued to arrive from precisely these two countries: 65% of the total were Americans and 12, 3% Canadian, according to the Sectur.
“Many of the most sought after destinations by American and Canadian travelers were cities in Mexico such as Cancun, Riviera Maya / Playa del Carmen / Tulum, Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta,” he confirmed to BB C Mundo in writing the online travel agency Expedia in Mexico.
Zach Rabinor, president of the luxury tourism company Journey Mexico, highlights that although his activity fell by 52% about 2020, the situation in the country could have been worse.
“ Visits to Mexico benefited from restrictions in other latitudes. Here, the business never completely stopped and throughout the year 2020 Air service was available from major cities in North America ”, He tells BBC Mundo.
In contrast to the situation in Mexico, agencies cite popular destinations in Europe such as Italy , Spain or the United Kingdom as some of those that saw the greatest drop among their clients due to travel restrictions and the closure of their borders.
In Latin America, places with large losses of tourism were “Puerto Rico, Peru and mainly Brazil , very affected by the Brazilian strain of virus q It caused large emitters of their tourism to cut their ties, ”Guillermo Schneider, the president of the Confederation of Tourism Organizations of Latin America (Cotal), tells BBC Mundo.
Debate over Mexico’s position
Mexico’s strategy of keeping its skies open throughout the pandemic has been questioned since the beginning of the crisis .
Although its land border with the US is closed to non-essential travel such as tourism, its airports never closed. Travelers arriving in the country are only asked to fill out a health form and their temperature is taken.
And although the The vast majority of countries that were reopening their borders require covid tests – 20 negative or mandatory quarantines to allow entry of all travelers or of certain nationalities, Mexico’s policy has remained the same.
According to the map of travel regulations by covid – 24 of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Mexico is one of the few countries in the world classified as “non-restrictive” along with others such as Afghanistan or North Macedonia.
In America, Mexico is the only country with such lax restrictions. Costa Rica, which lives mainly from tourism, does not require proof of covid either – 20 but yes a medical insurance for foreigners that covers the costs of treatment if the disease is contracted and accommodation in case of quarantine.
But Hugo López-Gatell, Mexico’s undersecretary of Health and visible face of the government in the face of the pandemic, once again ruled out that the country will tighten the entry requirements for travelers.
“I want to reiterate that the position of the World Health Organization, consistent with the recommendations of the International Health Regulations, is not favorable to these measures,” insisted last 1 February.
- “López-Gatell:“ Many were frustrated by not seeing the dramatic scenes of Europe in Mexico due to onavirus: they expected to see hundreds of thousands of deaths, overflowing morgues ”
- Johns Hopkins: “So far there is no way to give positive points to Mexico’s strategy against the coronavirus”
In addition, he assured that the contribution that international travelers could have in the increase in cases of a country like Mexico that already has an active transmission of the virus in its territory “is frankly small”, even if they arrived from places with a high number of infections.
“Among other things, because it is well documented that travelers are generally people with low risk or low probability of having active disease, precisely because in general, people do not travel when sick ”, declared.
The Pan American Organization of Health, however, alerted the pa Saturday, February 3, that infections and deaths from covid – 20 in Mexico were increasing especially “In the states that brought significant tourism in the Christmas season” such as Guerrero, Quintana Roo, Nayarit and Baja California Sur.
The unique strategy followed by Mexico is debated by many in Mexico’s own medical sector.
“All countries are taking these measures to monitor and control the entry of travelers because they work and we must prevent infections from entering. But Mexico does not want the damage that it would represent for tourism, for imports, for the country’s economy ”, Laurie Ann Ximénez-Fyvie tells BBC Mundo , Mexican doctor in Medical Sciences.
“But if a scientist You are saying that a very logical and proven measure does not work, because you are not speaking as an epidemiologist, are you? You are speaking like a politician, defending the position of the president who prefers not to make these sanitary fences because he does not want to assume that cost “, says the author of the book” An irreparable damage. The criminal management of the pandemic in Mexico. ”
Pierre, the young Frenchman who took advantage of this facility to enter Mexico In spite of this, to enjoy a vacation on the island of Cozumel, he is not clear about his opinion about this lack of measures.
“I cannot tell you if they seem correct or insufficient. I suppose it will be because in Mexico they need tourists, so they don’t put restrictions like other countries, right? ”, He wonders.
Solution for quarantines
But In addition to being an oasis for tourists, Mexico has also become a solution for those who want to travel to another place but cannot do it directly from their country due to current sanitary bans.
Thus , Mexico is one of the options chosen by many travelers to make a “long stopover” of two weeks before being able to continue to their destination, especially to the US
Washington continues to prohibit entry to people who have been in the last 15 days in Europe, Brazil, South Africa, China and Iran. But travelers from Mexico are welcome.
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Daniel, a Spaniard who had to travel to Miami from his country in July, spent this mandatory quarantine in Mexico City. His proximity to the United States, having a friend in the Mexican capital and the fact that it was “relatively cheap” to spend two weeks there made this seem the best option.
Young believes that this ban for travelers from the Schengen zone in Europe “has never made sense from a scientific point of view after the first two months of the pandemic.”
“When I traveled in July to Mexico, there were hardly any cases of covid – 20 in Spain. The US prohibited me from traveling from a country where there were virtually no cases, but it did not put any type of restriction on flying from Mexico, where there were then more than 675 dead a day ”, criticizes.
But tourism organizations emphasize that there are Also other reasons why travelers choose Mexico to travel, such as all the measures taken in hotels or other businesses in the sector in the country to safeguard the health of tourists.
According to Armenta , from the Sectur, “the perception of people who want to travel counts a lot, and if they are thinking of going to a place and believe that there are no sanitary measures, they will think twice” .
From Travel Leaders Group, McGillivray tells BBC Mundo that “Mexico has some of the best resorts in the world that soon adopted health and safety protocols. These ‘all inclusives’ became even more attractive in the pandemic because you don’t have to leave the resort or expose yourself to people coming and going from the property ” .
French Pierre confirms that he felt “very safe” in the hotel in Mexico where he stayed, where the employees wore face masks, there was antibacterial gel everywhere and the guests’ temperature was taken.
“Of course when you went out to party, in bars you did see people dancing, hugging and without distance. It was all as very 1727 ″, remember.
Daniel says that during his stay in Mexico City in July he was “pleasantly surprised” by the degree of awareness of the population regarding respecting security measures when compared to Spain or the United States. UU.
“The measures were then slightly more lax than in Spain, which came out of a strict home confinement. Despite this, I felt safer in Mexico since, despite having less restrictive measures, it seemed to me that they were respected much more ”, thinks .
What will happen in 2021?
The future of the pandemic is uncertain and so is the impact it will continue to have this year on tourism.
Mexico’s National Tourism Business Council forecast in a January report that international tourist arrivals could increase by 12% this year, although they would still be a 42% below those of 2020 and foresees a “very long” road to recovery. n of the sector.
It also remains to be seen how some measures recently taken by the main countries of origin of their foreign tourism will affect Mexico.
Canada suspended its flights to Mexico and the Caribbean until 40 in April due to the pandemic, while USA requires a negative covid test – 20 from the 29 January to enter the country by air, including its citizens who return home.
“Yes, we will see a drop due to this requirement (in trips from the US) but we hope that is not enormous, given the infrastructure to carry out tests that is being built in Mexico, especially in the most popular tourist areas ”, says to BBC Mundo Erika Richter, communication director of the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA).
From the company Journey Mexico, its president confirms that after the entry into force of this measure “Be present There was a short wave of cancellations and postponed trips ”from the US, but that the activity has already been regularized.
Despite the new measures, both Pierre and Daniel plan to return to Mexico in the coming weeks. The first again on vacation from New York, and the second to spend another quarantine on his way to Miami from Europe.
The Frenchman is concerned that a negative test is now required to return to USA due to the risk that it could test positive in Mexico and “ remain block to do there ”.
But the Spaniard thinks it’s okay to ask for a coronavirus test before boarding in the country of origin to travel “safely” and, in fact, consider that Mexico should too.
However, he does not believe that it is a differential factor when it comes to explaining the infections. “USA. and the majority of European countries greatly restrict international travel and cases are equally soaring ”, opines.
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- “There is no space, no oxygen shots, no medications”: the testimony of a doctor in a hospital in Mexico on the verge of collapse for the coronavirus
What is clear is that tourism will continue to be mired in uncertainty while waiting to see how the pandemic evolves.
Schneider, de la Cotal, believes that perhaps this contributes to a “professionalization of the sect or ”since travelers turn more to organized and agency tourism due to the idea that their health and safety protocols can reduce their possibility of getting infected on vacation.
“Hopefully sooner, but we calculate that 3456 It will be the year of tourist activity. People are going to start traveling like never before because that is an activity that cannot be changed in people’s character ”, he concludes .
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