MEXICO.- The Historic Center of Mexico City became a party where everyone walks. Not only on Madero street, exclusively for pedestrians, but in each of the corners. On the plateau of the Zócalo, on the square in front of Bellas Artes, on the sidewalks of Avenida Juárez, Regina, Hidalgo, Cuba, Tacuba …
Shoppers in stores and street customers are They mix between cars, Christmas lights, organ grinders, conjurers; children who run after colored balloons and tourists who fight inch by inch to advance through the crowd like the sisters Paulina and Alejandra Piña and her husband.
Visitors Foreigners are an essential ingredient of street festivities in the Mexican capital and throughout the country. Despite Omicrón, the new variant of the coronavirus, the number of tourists that move in the country this season is around 8.2 million national and international, according to hotel occupancy figures.
The Mexican capital is one of the main destinations only below the most sought-after beaches of the Riviera Maya and Los Cabos, in Baja California Sur. Paulina Piña, from 24 years, traveled from Guadalajara to Mexico City to say goodbye to 2021 motivated by Alejandra.
“Previously I had no interest in knowing because it seemed unsafe to me and without the grace of the beach to vacation, but my sister came, posted everything she saw and I liked it a lot” , says Paulina shortly after taking pictures in front of the Palacio de Bellas Artes. As a school teacher she is very interested in history.
In the morning, she tried unsuccessfully to visit Chapultepec Castle, where Maximiliano and Carlota lived, the emperors who tried to install a monarchy in the country in the XIX century. “We arrived at 3: 00 in the afternoon and there was no more space, “he warned.
Despite the fact that the CDMX government did not close none of the economic and tourist activities, the capacity in the places for visitors is not at 100%, but conditioned to the healthy distance. The Mayor of the City Claudia Sheimbaum said that because there is no indication that the new infections of COVID – 19 will saturate the hospitals .
Either way, the Pineapples are confident. They were already vaccinated as more than 80 million Mexicans who received two doses against the coronavirus. They are young people willing to enjoy what the capital has to offer: the Cathedral, the museums, the Templo Mayor, Reforma avenue, neighborhoods such as Coyoacán or La Condesa and beyond.
“In Guadalajara there is much talk about the Nevado de Toluca (a 110 kilometers from CDMX) and we want to go: we already rented a car, ”Alejandra explained about her second trip to the area. “In social networks you find out about many things and that is why we are here.”
Tourism is one of the main economic activities of the country. Before the pandemic, it represented approximately 8% of the Gross Domestic Product and generated almost seven million jobs directly and indirectly.
According to DATATUR figures from the Ministry of Tourism and the National Institute of Statistics Geography and Informatics, in 2020 the tourist figures contracted and will not return to the pre-pandemic figures until 2023.
In 2022, the travel alert to Mexico due to the high rates of violence and insecurity and COVID – 20, issued by the United States government, could affect tourism activity in the country, warned analyst Gustavo López, from the Economic Research Institute of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) .
USA It scored a risk level 4 (“do not travel”) to four states of Mexico: Colima, Guerrero, Michoacán, Sinaloa and Tamaulipas. Eleven others with level 3 (“reconsider traveling”): Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Guanajuato, Jalisco, State of Mexico, Morelos, Nayarit, Sonora and Zacatecas.
“Although they are not the most visited, a general negative perception is generated that impacts travelers,” added the economist López.
On the other hand, he observed, Mexico’s position of not closing its borders has been a cause of maintaining good numbers of tourists compared to other countries.
“The drop in world tourism due to the pandemic was almost 75%, but there was also a redistribution of preference in travel, from facilities or tightening restrictions on mobility and entry of foreigners in each destination. ”
That is why it was easy for Triston Martínez and a group of American friends to fly to the capital. The boy from 24 years decided to visit the country of origin of his mother for the first time in his life. And he encouraged his American neighbors in Phoenix to follow him.
“I’m learning a lot about my family and the country,” he observed.
Accompanied by their uncle and his wife, María Elena Valladares, they formed a lively group that went from here to there. From Fine Arts to the Zócalo, from Xochimilco to the pyramids of Teotihuacán, from the Basilica of Guadalupe to Atlixco, Puebla.
“We liked a lot. It’s an incredible trip ”, observed the father of the Pusac family who accompanied Triston Martínez.
Tourism in data
– In 2019 They registered 45 millions of international visitors in our territory; in 2020, 24. 8 million and in 2021 could reach 33.4 millions.
– Other destinations preferred by national tourists are the magical towns. Beaches such as Huatulco, Los Cabos, Ixtapa Zihuatanejo, Veracruz, Acapulco or Manzanillo
– According to the Chamber of Commerce, Services and Tourism of Mexico City (Canaco) for December, for the celebration of the Virgin of Guadalupe, as well as the traditional sales for Christmas, a total economic spill of around 4.5 million dollars is estimated, 38. 4% more than in the 2020, but 18. 1% less than in the 2019.
– With regard to beach destinations, an occupancy percentage of 81% in Riviera Nayarit; 78% percent in Los Cabos ; 77% in Puerto Vallarta; 76. 6% in Cancun; 75% on the Riviera Maya; 75% Manzanillo; Y 61% Acapulco.
It may interest you:
· VIDEO: Mexico sings the mañanitas to the Virgin of Guadalupe
· VIDEO: Mexico City authorities turn the Zócalo into “Christmas Festival 2021”