Tourism bets on the Mayan Riviera

Cancun._ The Novedades de Cancun daily newspaper put out an analysis highlighting the fact that despite the tourist outlook for the so-called Mayan Riviera is not promising at all for many a service provider, the flow of incoming travelers is growing with each passing year.

Moreover, the report goes on, three of the biggest markets –the United States, Canada and Mexico- increased their affluence this year by more that 10%, according to some statistics furnished by the Tourist Promotion Trusteeship at the Mayan Riviera.

In a comparative study of the month of June both in 2001 and 2002, as many as 131,450 tourists visited the Mayan Riviera last year, while 153, 996 travelers made it this time around. A grand total of 902,760 tourists from different countries have come to this destination from January to June this year, a real prop-up for the Mayan Riviera.

According to some figures provided by the trusteeship, the Canadian market outdid the number of vacationers flocking to the Mayan Riviera in June 2002 with a final tally of 14,965 tourists, as compared to the year before when a meager 8,267 Canucks went down there. Mexico stretched out from 1,269 visitors last year to a walloping 12,355 this time up, while the United States jumped from 68,274 vacationers in 2001 to 78,257 now. The number of Europeans clicked slightly from 43,330 last year to 44,528 people in 2002.

Director-general Martin Ruiz Cuevas said in spite of the economic crisis now sweeping the world, estimates have it that the Mexican, U.S. and Canadian markets will shore up the Mayan Riviera even in the next couple of months.