Los Cabos Blackouts Leave Tourists Stranded In Elevators And Others Without Air Conditioning

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Last Updated 8 months ago

It’s been a summer of electricity supply struggles and rolling blackouts for the beach resort community of Los Cabos.

As the weather cools down over the next couple of weeks, officials hope that the summer of power challenges will soon be coming to an end.

Hotels Take a Hit

According to published reports, damage to the hotel industry in Los Cabos currently stands at about $1.5 million dollars and is climbing.

That’s according to the best estimate of Mauricio Salicrup, president of the Board of Directors of the Los Cabos Hotel Association.

He also added that tourists have been directly affected by the blackouts by being stuck in hotel elevators, and others have had to deal with high temperatures without the convenience of air conditioning.

The blackout also has been playing havoc with the electronic key card system used by many of the hotels in Los Cabos.

Because of the high worldwide demand for travel and hotel rooms, several of the hotels in Los Cabos have reported issues trying to fix the key cards deactivated by the electricity issues and surges in the area.

Visitors Voice Frustration

Along with the direct cost related to needing to replace technology affected by the irregular blackouts in Los Cabos, the brand image of the beach destination has also been impacted.

Tourists have voiced their displeasure with the electricity challenges in Los Cabos, especially in a location touted worldwide as a premier luxury destination.

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The exact cost of the negative word-of-mouth publicity from tourists being stuck in elevators during power outages and others suffering without air conditioning can’t be estimated.

It will have a direct impact on the Los Cabos Tourism Trust’s promotion of the area.

Not All Tourists Affected

However, not all tourists were directly affected by the blackouts while staying at some of the higher-end resort-style properties in the beach resort destination.

Most of the nicer resorts and all-inclusive properties in Los Cabos have purchased backup generators to power their properties in the event that the power goes out.

Originally purchased as backup supplies when a tropical storm or hurricane hit the area, the equipment came in handy during the power challenges faced by the municipality.

The only time these tourists may have faced the issue was when they ventured into town during an actual power outage.

A little bit of advanced planning and selection of more luxury properties could have made a difference for tourists who were impacted by the blackouts.

Those who selected local vacation rental properties in town or lower-end budget properties end up experiencing much of the negative impact from the power supply challenges.

What Tourists Need to Know

According to Salicrup, the hotel industry still has not been presented with a solution to resolving the problem that plagued Los Cabos during the summer.

While some of the problems will be solved on its own once the temperature declines a bit, the hotel industry is eager to fix the issue and start rebuilding the luxury resort destination brand of Los Cabos.

Tourists should be aware that this is an ongoing issue and look specifically for properties that have backup generators in place to supply reliable electricity in the event of a blackout.

Sending an email or making a phone call to the front desk can easily uncover this information.

It may be worth spending a bit more on a hotel room that has this capability for the convenience of the guest.

If a visitor wants to stay at a more budget property or in a local vacation rental, they may want to consider travel insurance, which includes trip interruption coverage.

Travel insurance is always a good idea for a vacation getaway to Los Cabos.

However, the cost of the insurance and the inconvenience of a power outage should be balanced against the peace of mind of an increased nightly room rate of staying at a higher-end property with a backup power supply.