Tourism Crisis in Puerto Vallarta Due to Violence

The Mexican state of Jalisco is seeking to return to normal tourist activity by demonstrating security measures to generate confidence among travelers; however, the violence following the assassination of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) has triggered a tourism crisis that, in just the last days of February, amounted to a loss of 683 million pesos. According to official data consulted by El Financiero, after the elimination of 'El Mencho' on February 22, tourist activity collapsed in Puerto Vallarta and, to a lesser extent, in Guadalajara. The economic flow data, processed by the Jalisco Tourism Secretariat, clearly shows a decrease in February of this year compared to the same period last year. While the drop in economic flow in Puerto Vallarta in February is around 595 million pesos in the tourism sector, in Guadalajara the decrease was 88 million pesos, compared to the same period last year. In that region of the West of the country, the high tourist season occurs between October and April, when Canadians and Americans travel to Puerto Vallarta to spend the winter. The figures for February alone show that the flow of national tourists to Puerto Vallarta was the most affected: with 46,000 fewer travelers in the second month of the year, the arrival of domestic travelers to the beaches of that destination decreased by 18.4%. During that anomalous Sunday, the burning of businesses, as well as the blocking of roads, forced airlines to progressively cancel their operations, despite the fact that the Puerto Vallarta airport remained available. In the following days after the death of the drug trafficker and until the end of February, the Aeroportuario Group estimated that 50,000 air passengers were affected. To that preliminary figure, the flow of road travelers is added. In this regard, the flow of international tourists had a decrease, and in the second month of the year alone it fell by 14,684 according to the official records consulted by this newspaper. In total, the crisis due to violence cost Puerto Vallarta a little more than 61,000 national and international travelers in just seven days. The drop in tourists in the middle of the high season had an impact on the entire smokeless industry. In Puerto Vallarta, according to local authorities, 90% of the economy is related to tourist services: lodging, tours, restaurants, tourist guides, and consumption centers collapsed and are still struggling. Only in the last seven days of February, which followed the violent events, the Pacific tourist port reported a reduction of 595 million pesos in the tourist flow, compared to the same period last year. International tourism with the greatest impact in Jalisco Puerto Vallarta is one of the four Mexican destinations with the highest flow of international travelers in Mexico, so the effects of the violence impacted the flow generated by international travelers, mainly to hotels. The figures consulted by El Financiero reveal that in February, the month in which the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel was eliminated, the economic flow generated by international tourism in Puerto Vallarta had a drop of 313 million pesos compared to the same month last year only in the formal lodging sector. Luis Villaseñor, director of the Puerto Vallarta Tourism Trust, warned that the high hotel season concluded after the violent events. Although a community of foreigners who live seasonally in the destination decided to stay, foreign tourism was strongly affected during the high season. The lodging sector not only saw a negative impact in the formal sector, but short and long-term rentals also showed a decrease in their economic capture. By the end of February, international tourism staying in 'private homes' retreated and lost at least 126 million pesos. In sum, only in the second month of this year, the spending of international tourists in Puerto Vallarta fell by 431 million pesos. 'We are seeing a rapid recovery, we are not going to deny that something happened, we are not going to deny that there is work to be done in the perception of security, especially for external markets,' said Michel Fridman, Secretary of Tourism for Jalisco. As for national tourism, the impact on the flow in February of this year was 163 million pesos, with a significant emphasis on the lodging sector. For now, the improvement in tourist flow is expected to occur during Holy Week, when national tourists will arrive in Puerto Vallarta to try to recover the lost part of the season.