Despite Covid-19 Tourism Remains Strong for Summer Season

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Despite a new wave of Covid-19 in the US and Mexico, tourism appears to continue to be strong for now in Puerto Vallarta, creating a better summer season than last year.

According to the Pacific Airport Group (GAP), in June of this year, the Puerto Vallarta airport received 380,500 domestic and international passengers, which represents an increase of 2.8%. July surpassed 2019 levels by over 14 percent. The popular beach destination for Americans travelers is now seeing higher arrivals than prior to the pandemic.

Puerto Vallarta recorded 1847 flights in July bringing in over 475,000 passengers to the resort city. This is 14.4 percent higher than pre-pandemic levels for July of 2019. According to the Puerto Vallarta Tourism Trust, international arrivals also increased 5.9 percent for the month which was made up of mostly U.S. travelers. August is also expected to set another tourism record with 1847 flights scheduled at the Puerto Vallarta International Airport. The United States is driving the international arrivals, which is seeing increased flights from Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, Dallas Fort Worth, Seattle, Denver and San Francisco.

GlobalData’s latest report, Tourism Source Market Insight – United States, reveals that in 2020, the US spent the most on outbound travel with average spend per resident totaling US$3,505. Canada was the second highest spending source market with $1,576, followed by Colombia with $1,286.

And as travel increases, so do the number of Covid-19 cases in Puerto Vallarta.

The Ministry of Health in Mexico recently moved the state of Jalisco which includes Puerto Vallarta to the maximum risk level of ‘Red’ for Covid-19 contagion. According to Vallarta Daily, all four public hospitals in the city are operating at 100 percent capacity for beds with ventilators. The Governor recently committed to adding more hospital beds for the sick in Puerto Vallarta. This increase has placed Puerto Vallarta as the leader in active cases of the virus in Jalisco. Even more than Guadalajara, which is the second largest city in the country.

During the entire pandemic, Mexico has remained open for tourism and does not require testing, vaccine passports or quarantines for entry into the country. The only entry requirement to enter Mexico during the pandemic is to fill out an online health form declaring you are free from Covid-19 symptoms. If you are returning to the US you are required to get a negative Covid-19 test.

Puerto Vallarta is experiencing the highest level of the threat of covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. And it has registered a total of 10,914 infections, of which 25% occurred in July.

The academics of the institute for research and studies of the cities belonging to the university center for art, architecture and design (CUAAD), developed a predictive model of covid-19 that measures the threat from 0 to 10. With 10 being the highest risk. The average threat level in the state is 5. However, in Puerto Vallarta the level is even 8.

The Governor has added new restrictions for Puerto Vallarta including closing all bars and nightclubs. Other restrictions included:

• Restaurants must close by midnight
• Restaurant capacity reduced to 50%
• All large public events have been cancelled for the remainder of the year including Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)
• Attendance at stadiums reduced to 33% and face masks must be worn
• Hotels must keep their occupancy below 80% and 50% in public spaces

If you are more interested in this, we wrote an entire article on this topic that you can see if you click here.

Esta publicación también está disponible en: English Español