Staff Shortages Could Affect Tourist Experience In Los Cabos

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Last Updated 2 years ago

Tourists have been flocking to Los Cabos during this peak spring travel season.

The demand for tourist services has already been impacting the area with increased traffic, crime, and congestion in key tourist areas.

Now it is also affecting the labor supply in Los Cabos as restaurants and nightclubs are reporting an increased demand for a limited supply of skilled tourism workers in the area.

Competition For Skilled Tourism Workers

Association of Friends of Los Cabos President Esteban Domínguez is one person that is concerned about the limited supply of skilled workers in the area.

In fact, he said that some of the new resorts and upscale amenities coming to Los Cabos are actually taking workers from the other established tourism related companies in the area.

Local workers that have been trained in customer service to tourists are leaving their original bars, restaurants, nightclubs and hotels for the newer luxury resorts and upscale amenities coming to Los Cabos.

The competition for the limited pool of trained and experienced workers in Los Cabos is causing problems for businesses in the rapidly growing tourist area.

The fear is that it will start impacting the overall guest experience in the resort destination.

Guest Experience Impact

The local bars and restaurants claim they can’t compete with the higher wages and benefits being paid by the upscale resorts and amenities moving into Los Cabos.

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According to local hospitality businesses, the new properties are paying 200 to 500 pesos more for the best workers to cater to the needs of the new upscale tourist base in Los Cabos.

Because the new upscale travelers coming to Los Cabos visit with more expensive resort reservations, stay longer and tend to pay more for deluxe amenities, the new higher end Los Cabos resorts can attract the best workers and pay them more.

The result is that several of the bars, nightclubs and restaurants in Los Cabos that attract tourists are now understaffed by 25 to 30 percent and unable to attract new workers.

They will need to cut back on service to Los Cabos tourists due to the lack of labor. The alternative is to charge travelers more so they can attract workers back with higher wages.

Need For More Workers

To provide the services that upscale travelers want and to keep adding amenities, Los Cabos will need to ultimately obtain more workers. Hopefully, some workers will be trained and attracted to living in a luxury Mexican resort destination.

The issue is that Los Cabos is already facing a high labor participation rate where nearly 69 percent of people living in the area are employed. This has created an amazingly low unemployment rate in the Los Cabos area of only 2.8 percent.

The solution is to attract more people from outside the area to live and work in Los Cabos.

Owners Turn to City Hall For Help

The bar, restaurant and nightclub owners are now turning to Los Cabos city hall for assistance.

According to the owners, the Los Cabos municipal government has created this situation by bringing more and more growth in the area without expanding the labor force. Everyone loves the increase in tourism, but owners are starting to ask at what price is this growth.

Ultimately, they fear the growth in upscale amenities in Los Cabos for the luxury travel segment without the labor to support it will doom the exciting growth effort for everyone.

Steps have already been taken to start to attract workers from outside of the Los Cabos area to work in the local hospitality industry.

There is only one opportunity for Los Cabos to make a positive impression with this extremely fickle tourist segment.

If luxury tourists come to Los Cabos because of the great amenities and don’t find the supportive services such as bars, restaurants, and nightclubs also providing excellent customer service to tourists, they will not return again.