The Daily Briefing – March 31, 2023

Puerto Vallarta News

First quarter of the year was very positive for hotels in the Riviera Nayarit

According to Rodolfo Cobos, Director of Operations for Hacienda Buenaventura hotels, a very positive balance has been left in the region’s hotels in the first quarter of the year. He used this balance to finish the region’s productive winter season and kick off spring by utilizing the inertia of tourist consolidation brought by the year 2022 with a higher number of trips by foreign visitors.

The executive emphasized that this year’s successful start gives us a glimpse of what the second quarter will be like once national tourism resumes after the upcoming vacation.

He remarked that strategies are being improved to take advantage of reservations from the states of El Bajo after the April holiday period, especially from Aguascalientes where they celebrate the San Marcos Fair (April 14–May 7). The residents of that state have a vacation period and travel to the beach.

With reporting by Rodrigo López Becerril from Tribuna de la Bahía

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Volaris announces new flight from Guadalajara to Puerto Vallarta

Beginning in June of next year, more Guadalajara tourists will travel through Puerto Vallarta’s international airport.

The Guadalajara-Puerto Vallarta route will start operating on June 1, 2023, and the Guadalajara-Loreto, Baja California Sur route will start operating on October 1, 2023, according to the Volaris airline.

To position Jalisco in Volaris promotional channels, joint marketing initiatives will be made through tradeshows, familiarization trips (Fam Trips), and cooperative marketing campaigns.

The new Guadalajara-Puerto Vallarta route will start running next Thursday, June 1, with a daily frequency, and the airline anticipates that the new connection with Loreto will be over 85% occupied on average.

Los Cabos News

Two brand-new upscale buildings will debut in La Paz

The tourism industry in La Paz is being repositioned to emphasize more upscale and luxurious travel. Two brand-new, opulent resort properties have just been announced for the community.

The distinctively designed Chablé Sea of Cortez resort will open to upscale visitors in La Paz the following year. The property, which is built to look like a collection of opulent pods, will cover nearly 700,000 square feet of desert and house 50 suites.

The Perla resort from the Hamak Hotels collection will soon open in La Paz. On their website, Perla stated that it would debut in 2022. But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been delayed, just like everything else in hospitality.

The boutique resort hotel will have two master suites, a fully equipped gym, a pool, a bar, a terrace, 90 luxurious rooms, and two restaurants.

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Balandra will have a tourist plan at Easter

The Playa Balandra control and information filters for visitors will remain in place during this Holy Week, which takes place from April 2 to April 8, 2023, along with the hours set by blocks and capacity restriction.

The schedule was divided into two visitation blocks, each with a maximum capacity of 450 people. Block 1 will run from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and block 2 will run from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in an effort to preserve the quality of the natural area that is under protection.

Simple rules have been established that visitors must adhere to in order to enjoy this protected natural area, such as not climbing the mushroom, not altering the ecosystem, bringing reusable items, not smoking, using ecological toilets, keeping pets on leashes only, and respecting the carrying capacity in order to conserve and care for the place.

Cancun News

Cancun restaurants authorized designataed smoking areas

A group of restaurants in Cancun has won back the freedom to have designated smoking areas on their premises.

The 15 restaurants named in the legal documents now have the legal right to provide designated smoking areas for customers.

Furthermore, these establishments are not allowed to serve food and alcohol in these sections, meaning they will likely resemble the often-crowded smoking areas found in airports around the world.

As well as the restrictions on food and alcohol service, the new smoking areas must be outside on terraces, patios, or any other outdoor area belonging to the restaurant, and also be a minimum of 10 meters from the non-smoking areas.

Unfortunately, this means any business that doesn’t have a suitable outdoor area won’t be able to provide this extra slice of freedom to their visitors as the sidewalk remains a smoke-free zone.

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Playa del Carmen bans 41 taxi drivers from the area for illegal activity

The Riviera Maya super-destination of Playa Del Carmen has made a serious statement with the removal of the taxi licenses of 41 drivers in the area.

Although taxis play an important part in the Riviera Maya transportation ecosystem, the spotlight has been shining on the industry for all the wrong reasons.

The conflict between some taxi drivers and Uber has been a huge worry for both the tourism industry and tourists themselves.

Social media during the month of January was taken over with videos of taxi drivers attacking Uber contractors, often with scared families in the vehicles.

If any questions remain on just how serious this threat to tourism has been taken, it was the taxi drivers’ union itself who decided to take this drastic step. Showing that even amongst their own, the actions of these taxi drivers are condemned.

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The most sought-after spots to dine, shop, chill out on the beach and much more are in our Tribune Travel Guide.