This Is Why Experts Believe Now Is The Time To Book Your Cancun Winter Getaway
[ad_1]
Last Updated
Cancun is one of the world’s busiest beach getaways.
Highly sought-after for its pristine white sands and bright-blue ocean, the city has re-emerged from the pandemic years as Mexico’s strongest tourist offer, and its popularity continues to grow every year.
While this is great news for the local economy and certainly for Mexico’s overall Tourism Renaissance, as evidenced here, tourists now face an inevitable surge in prices, driven by the sharp increase in demand and lower availability of hotel rooms.
With Cancun’s peak travel season starting in December and continuing through March, experts believe now is the time for you to book that winter vacation, and this is why:
Cancun Is Busier Than Ever, And It’s Only Going Up From Here
This year, Cancun has already seen a 35 percent increase in hotel reservations throughout 2023, compared to 2022, already a record-breaking year for tourism, when the city and its adjacent Mayan Riviera host more than 19 million guests.
Now that the first quarterly figures are in, we now know it is set to make history yet again, as it may well outperform itself for a third year in a row.
The early predictions point to the registration of 20.4 million tourists by December, a marginal but positive increase over 2022, out of which 13 million will likely be foreigners.
Last year, the rapid rise in bookings and Cancun’s trendiness meant it was slightly harder to find cheap flights, and this was in spite of numerous low-cost flight options for Cancun, and hotel rooms were also close to selling out, irrespective of ongoing expansions and new openings.
It almost sold out for the tourist season, reaching occupancy rates as high as 95%, and as you may be aware when room availability is this low, rates can fluctuate dramatically.
Top 5 Travel Insurance Plans For 2023 Starting At $10 Per Week
The Longer You Wait, The More You Are Likely To Pay
Usually, guests who keep waiting for one of those miraculous last-minute deals are essentially taking a gamble, as they may or may not come, and they risk taking a huge hit to their wallets in the lead-up to their vacation when booking seats or accommodation only weeks in advance.
As noted above, visitor numbers are on the up, and 2023 will be no different. In fact, now these are rising further; it’s gonna be even more challenging to find attractive vacation deals leaving it until the very last minute.
As experts writing for the Cancun Sun, the leading independent news source on Cancun, have stated, ‘resorts in Cancun are going to fill up fast‘ now that more growth has been confirmed for later in the year. They suggest tourists should not be misled by the wide availability of rooms right now.
Cancun is a busy hub all year, but bookings tend to slow down between July and September, when Americans, the city’s most faithful customers, flock instead to Mediterranean Europe for their summer break.
Why Will Prices Be Higher Over Winter?
At this time of year, Cancun – and much of Mexico’s Caribbean provinces – may face more unpleasant weather, be it rain or tropical storms, as well as the pernicious sargassum seaweed, known to tarnish the municipality’s spotless beach zones.
In other words, the best time to visit is anywhere from December up until spring, when the sun shines incessantly, and the beaches are seaweed-free.
With that being said, even though summer is not typically as busy as winter in Cancun, it’s already ‘much busier than usual’, as reported by the Cancun Sun.
‘One can only imagine what this winter will be like‘, they have warned, urging potential vacationers to ensure their reservations are made well in advance in order to avoid exorbitantly high rates. Essentially, you are being advised to book your peak-season getaway now.
Scott Keyes from Scott’s Cheap Flights supports this way of thinking, warning travelers as early as August 2022 that vacation packages must be purchased ‘several months’ ahead of the high season.
He was famously quoted saying: ‘When are swimsuits on sale? In the winter. When are coats on sale? In the summer. It’s the same idea with winter holiday flights‘.
Cancun Keeps Reinventing Itself
Cancun’s soaring post-crisis popularity has been largely attributed to the city’s relaxed approach to COVID.
When most of the world was shutting down for tourism and being openly discriminatory against U.S. passport holders, a legacy that has remained in certain Asian countries where restrictions still apply, Cancun – and Mexico by extension- had no entry requirements whatsoever.
Not only Americans, but all foreign nationals were allowed to fly to Cancun for a beach escapade with minimal hassle, and it quickly went from being merely yet another popular sunny destination, competing among several others in the Caribbean, to the world’s absolute leader in holiday bookings (in a matter of months).
Cancun’s newfound fame was maintained in the post-crisis scene as it continued to innovate, work on its tourist offer, and improve the quality of services to strengthen its hard-earned status as a force to be reckoned with (in tourism).
Authorities have completely scrapped the dreaded arrival form, which travelers had to fill out ahead of crossing the border, and they have shown Americans a sign of good faith by opening up e-Gates for them.
Since January, U.S. citizens are no longer required to undergo thorough screening arriving at Cancun. They can simply scan their passport and effortlessly walk through the border without additional checks or questioning.
Major infrastructure projects are also underway, from the improvement of accessibility for drivers when commuting to and from the airport to the launch of the long-anticipated Maya Train this December.
It is set to connect Cancun to all of the Mexican Caribbean’s major vacation spots, including Tulum and Playa Del Carmen, making inter-city travel a lot easier.
Additionally, they will ramp up security efforts, having deployed more police to patrol key tourist areas in the Hotel Zone and invested in state-of-the-art surveillance technology to keep the streets mostly crime-free.
Cancun is one of the safest and best-equipped Caribbean destinations this summer, and we’re sure it will repeat this success story come winter.
Traveler Alert: Don’t Forget Travel Insurance For Your Next Trip!
↓ Join Our Community ↓
The Travel Off Path Community FB group has all the latest reopening news, conversations, and Q&A’s happening daily!
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR LATEST POSTS
Enter your email address to subscribe to Travel Off Path’s latest breaking travel news, straight to your inbox.
This article originally appeared on TravelOffPath.com
[ad_2]
Source link
