Mexico's Resort Hotels Offer Swine Flu Guarantee

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
May 12th 2009 at 8:01PM

Just how much damage has been done to Mexican tourism from the outbreak of the H1N1 virus? There are a variety of reports that indicate the flu has had a deep impact on Mexico's hotel industry. Data from STR shows that occupancy dropped more than 50 percent at the end of April and beginning of May. Tourism in Mexico was already on the wane due to threats from gang- and drug-related violence and from an overall downturn in resort travel because of the economy. The AFP reports that since the outbreak of swine flu 25 hotels in the Cancun area have closed down and that the tourism drop may cost Mexico around $2.3 billion in lost income.

As a response to this type of bad publicity, some of the hotels in the resort areas along Mexico's Caribbean coast have announced free vacations for three years to any tourist who catches swine flu while on vacationing in the region. So far over 5,000 hotel rooms are involved in the promotion which is hoped to bring a little life back to Mexico's beach resorts. Mexico's Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova has said that Mexican beach resorts, including Cozumel and Puerto Vallarta have not reported any cases of the virus.

Tags: cancun, h1n1 virus, H1n1Virus, mexico, swine flu, SwineFlu

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Alex May 13th 2009 2:35PM

The Mexico tourism industry has definitely been hurt by the Swine Flu scare and a lot of guests have canceled. However, many popular areas like Cabo and Puerto Vallarta actually have no reports of any breakouts. Hopefully things will turn around quickly and I'm sure the guarantees and special offers will definitely help! For more info on the status of the H1N1 virus in Cabo, visit our blog - http://www.mypueblobonito.com

Henderson May 13th 2009 3:36PM

LOL this may put hotels out of business, considering how quickly the H1N1 is STILL spreading in Mexico, according to www.FluCount.org anyway.. best of luck to everyone!

smitty May 13th 2009 3:38PM

i also noticed on http://www.flucount.org that someone died in costa rica.. i wonder if that would have an impact on tourism in south america

card27 May 14th 2009 4:59PM

As of this time, lots of things regarding the H1N1 virus are still uncertain. There are reported cases but there are also claims that these cases are not true. Tourism industry is the most affected. One tourist will not risk to take a vacation in such places where there is a health problem.

Reports were taken that there are still safe places where there is no swine flu outbreak. To check and confirm, keep up with the http://investor.ibasis.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=73634&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1287332&highlight=.