How COVID-19 has impacted the Mexican vacation rental market?

It has been almost eleven years since the influenza virus A-H1N1 started to spread in Mexico in the early spring of 2009. This Latin American country was then the epicenter of the outbreak, which left 9.5 million infected and around eight thousand deaths nationwide. Nonetheless, this is not the only problem the Mexican health system had to overcome in recent years. According to a survey carried out during May 2020 in Mexico, 76.5 percent of respondents believed that their economic situation was either highly or somewhat affected by the COVID-19 crisis. In comparison, 23.5 percent considered that the situation was only marginally, or not at all affecting their economy.

According to estimates of August 2020, the most optimistic development for Mexico’s COVID-19 situation in the remaining months of the year has the potential to see the country's accommodation industry generate 10.4 billion U.S. dollars in annual revenue. The tourism sector in Mexico, hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, could recover the sustained influx of visitors from the second half of 2021, according to a promoter body of Mexican destinations.

In Mexico, which is among the ten most-visited nations in the world, tourism represents 8.7% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). But in April the sector collapsed 97% in its annual comparison, according to official figures.

Several of the most popular destinations along Mexico’s Pacific Coast (e.g., Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta, Riviera Nayarit) and in the Mexican Caribbean (e.g., Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Riviera Maya, Yucatan) have already earned the World Travel and Tourism Council WTTC’s ‘Safe Travels Stamp’ certification, awarded in recognition of their destination-wide adherence to the highest-level COVID-19 prevention protocols in the hospitality sector. Many tourism boards and sector providers are also working to qualify for the Mexican Government’s newly-launched Clean Point Quality Seal V2020, designed for small- and medium-sized businesses related to hospitality. Los Cabos recently became the first destination in Mexico to partner with international standards organization Intertek Cristal to integrate its ‘Protek Destination Assurance’ program on top of protocols already in place.

Visit México will focus its efforts on attracting national tourists and will reinforce the promotion in the United States and Canada, which represent more than 80% of foreign visitors. For a second stage, campaigns are being prepared for the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and China.