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Los Cabos is set to exceed its expectation of 3 million tourists in 2022, having already welcomed more than 2 million through its major airports this year so far.
The head of the Tourism Ministry, Mirabel Collins, said that “Tourism is the economic foundation of Baja California Sur and numbers are steadily advancing”, before highlighting tourism figures so far for 2022.
Collins noted that 2022 has been an excellent year for tourism in Los Cabos, particularly in comparison to figures from before the pandemic. Statistics show a significant increase in passengers arriving by air, with the month of June seeing the highest increase of 25%.
She mentioned that flight arrivals have been boosted by a number of new connections including the latest one which was inaugurated just this week, between Los Cabos and Madrid on a weekly basis.
There are also other new flight connections with Volaris between AIFA to Los Cabos, Toluca to Los Cabos and AIFA to La Paz, making travel within Mexico easier for tourists. There is also work being done with other airlines to increase flights to different destinations in Europe.
Countless international events have also contributed significantly to the revival of the tourism industry in the area, including the L’Estape by Tour de France, the Astri Triathlon, Norceca as well as gastronomic and cultural events highlighting Los Cabos and Baja California Sur.
Some of the most popular and well-known gastronomic festivals in the area were Sabores de Baja, El Sashimi Fest, the Mango Festival and the Pitahaya Festivals, all of which took place in the state.
The high tourist numbers, Collins said, is also reflected by the increase in hotel infrastructure which is growing quickly. An estimated 27,740 hotel rooms are on offer in Baja California Sur and there is significant interest from investors to build more in Los Cabos.
Collins also mentioned that strategic alliances are being built with Baja ferries and other local carriers, to promote local tourism and let people know about what’s on offer in destinations such as Cabo San Lucas.
Another point of pride that Collins commented on, was Los Cabos’ award for being the first tourism destination in the world to receive a distinction from Queer Destinations, for its ability to care for the LGBT+ community.
Los Cabos is also quickly becoming a popular filming destination, with two productions currently in the works on location: Televisa and Star Plus. Also in the past few months, both Netflix and Disney Plus featured Baja California Sur landscapes.
Collins concluded by thanking all members of the tourism industry for their extreme hard work that has been maintained to produce positive results and drive visitor numbers, and who she encouraged to redouble their efforts to see even more improvements in the months to come.
This positive news comes as Los Cabos revealed it has almost sold out for the summer, with hotels at up to 95% capacity. On top of this, over 1 million US tourists have already booked their winter vacation in Los Cabos, suggesting the original target numbers of 2 million tourists will be significantly exceeded in 2022.
Los Cabos isn’t just seeing a rise in air passengers, as up to 700 cruises ships are expected to arrive between 2022 and 2023, meaning thousands of day and overnight passengers will come to the area. Princess Cruises is one such operator who is launching new round trip cruises from LA to Cabo and La Paz.
To cope with demand, Los Cabos has been implementing a variety of promotions, building new infrastructure and increasing police presence and safeguarding of tourists to ensure the positive perception of the area remains.