Los Cabos is set to welcome even more tourists over the winter 2022 period, with numbers growing by around 10%.
Los Cabos experienced a huge boom in tourism numbers this year which has been unprecedented in the history of the area. Although Cicotur (the Centre for Research and Tourism Competitiveness) have said that flights will slow down slightly from September, number will be bolstered by the many cruises and winter vacations which have been booked in Los Cabos.
According to Fiturca, towards the end of 2022 and in the beginning of 2023, the more than one million Americans who have booked winter vacations in Cabo will mean the region’s tourism will grow by approximately 1.4% during the winter months.
The director of Fiturca, Rodrigo Esponda Cascajares, commented that there are a number of variables which could affect tourism numbers towards the end of the year, however 2023 will register at least a 10% growth in the arrival of tourists from the United States.
Fiturca has planned to implement a number of strategies to continue growing these numbers, one of which is aiming to attract more luxury tourism rather than mass tourism.
Luxury tourism is already extremely popular in Los Cabos, and it is one of Mexico’s more expensive destinations. This has led to Cabo attracting a wealth of celebrities such as Tom Holland, Shakira, Nick Jonas and many more which are adding to the allure of the area for tourists.
Esponda mentioned that, “Visitors who stay in Los Cabos spend an average of $1,500 more during their stay compared to other national tourist destinations. In Mexico, tourists spend on average one thousand dollars, but in Los Cabos visitors spend approximately $2,500, two and a half times more”.
He commented that it is the intention of Fiturca to reinforce the value that visitors can expect in Los Cabos, on hotels, activities and dining, because even in a recession, travellers often choose to go on vacation to places that are good value for money.
Between January and June this year, Los Cabos International Airport received more than 2.2 million passengers, which not only demonstrated the area’s recovery following the pandemic, but that it had surpassed previous all-time records achieved before Covid-19.
By the end of 2022, a total of 7 million tourists are predicted to have visited Los Cabos, a number that has never been recorded in the history of the region.
The arrival of tourists by air increased by around 24%, making 2022 the best year in history for Los Cabos. Although Cancun is still currently first in popularity for visitor numbers, Cabo is following closely behind, offering far more luxury options and maintaining a 70% hotel occupancy rate throughout the year.
Although the winter of 2021 was successful for Los Cabos, many Covid-19 restrictions were still in place that weren’t lifted until the beginning of 2022. However, this winter tourism numbers will be further increased by the number of cruises heading to Cabo San Lucas, each of which can bring up to 4,000 passengers per day.
The 150 cruise ships are expected to bring more than $9 million to the economy in Los Cabos. Sometimes more than one cruise per day will visit the area meaning over 10,000 tourists spend one or two days in Cabo San Lucas, doing activities and eating out.
Despite the predicted slowing of incoming flights, more than 700 hundred cruise ships are expected to visit Los Cabos before the end of 2023, with cruise operators adding new routes all the time, such as Princess and Celebrity.