Mexican hoteliers in Acapulco expect Christmas miracle after Otis

Mexican hoteliers predicted this Thursday a 20% recovery in the accommodation available in December in the port of Acapulco after the impact of Hurricane Otis in the southern state of Guerrero, where it broke the intensification record for a cyclone in Mexico.

The president of Grupo Mundo Imperial, Antonio Hernández, assured in a conference that “Today, fortunately, there is already accommodation in Acapulco”, the city most affected by Otis and one of the main tourist spots in Mexico.

“I’m glad to see banners that say ‘we are now open’, ‘suites available’. And I estimate that today there is a supply of about 4%. First God, starting next December 15, I hope we have an average of 20% and before Holy Week I trust that we will already be at 40% or 50%,” he expressed.

Hernández spoke on behalf of the hoteliers during a report in Acapulco by the Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, about his Government’s response four weeks after the historic impact of Otis, which left 50 dead after making landfall on October 25 as category 5 hurricane.

The cyclone damaged more than 300 hotels along the 20 kilometers of Acapulco beach, where it also destroyed nearly 250,000 homes, according to the Government.

The president has promised to reactivate tourism in December and “stand up” to Acapulco for Christmas.

The hotel leader trusted in the recovery of the sector by pointing out that there are 30 congresses and conventions committed for 2024, including events such as the Banking Convention, the Mexican Tennis Open, and the Tianguis Turístico, the main business meeting in the sector.

“It has been hard and it will be harder, but it is a challenge, a very important challenge, where each and every one of us must demonstrate what we are capable of, it is called, some say, resilience, we are going to act with courage, with knowledge, with experience”said Hernández.

The Mexican Government estimated on November 1 at 61,313 million pesos (more than US$ 3,500 million) the cost of repairs and social support in the southern state of Guerrero after the impact of Hurricane Otis.

However, the Fitch rating agency estimated the catastrophic losses at US$16 billion, while the business chambers anticipated two years and up to 300 billion pesos for the reconstruction of Acapulco (more than US$17.45 billion).