Although the tourism sector was one of the most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, Wyndham Resorts, a world-class hotel company, sees the country with sufficient potential to continue increasing its operations.
Eduardo Cruz del Río, vice president of operations for Latin America and the Caribbean of the hotel firm, assures that the confidence in the country is such that this year they propose the opening of new resorts.
“Mexico has the necessary potential, for us, it is definitely the number one country at a regional level in Latin America and the Caribbean, we have 58 hotels and we are sure that we can triple that amount. There is still a lot of potential and we are very confident that Mexico is a good option for investors to put their money, we fully believe in the potential of tourism activity in the country. “
In an interview with La Jornada, the manager comments that although last year many projects were delayed by the health contingency, none of them were canceled, so this year the opening of nine new hotels in the country is planned.
“Nothing was canceled and it was only postponed because those hotels that were under construction had to stop due to the restrictions of local measures, but now everything has been resumed and the only thing that has been done is to postpone the opening,” he explains.
The manager points out that despite the pandemic, a policy of signing contracts for various projects in the country was followed. He announced that in August a new hotel will open in Tulum, Quintana Roo, and another in Mexico City.
On the other hand, Cruz del Río points out that the Covid-19 pandemic revolutionized the way of exercising the hotel business. For example, previously the rooms were cleaned daily and now it is the guest’s decision whether this activity will take place or not.
“We had no idea how a pandemic was going to be, and when we were going on an exit path it turns out that there are relapses, but today we know more how to operate. Now confidence is improving and we are at a better point than we were last year, little by little we resume the activity in all the countries in which we operate ”, he said.
In the United States, occupancy levels are better than those in 2019 and this is expected to occur in the coming months within Mexico, especially in beach destinations.
“We know that we have not left, but little by little (in Mexico) we will resume activity, we are optimistic about the second half of the year, which we hope will be better than all of 2020,” he added.
Among the actions that had to be taken in order not to slow down the business, he explains, is to be more flexible with clients when making a reservation, which is why clauses such as penalties for date changes, among others, have had to be eliminated.
“Before there were rates in which changes could not be made or if it was canceled, money was lost (from reservations), today that no longer happens, we are with maximum flexibility, so that if a person booked and wants to change dates or the return of the money there is no problem ”, added the manager of Wyndham.
Source: jornada.com.mx
