Los Cabos To Focus On Quality Of Tourists Rather Than Quantity – What This Means For Travelers

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Last Updated 11 months ago

In the past, the mission of the Los Cabos tourism industry was to cater to as many tourists as possible and fill every available hotel room.

However, that is now changing. There are a number of reasons for the change and, more importantly, how it will impact future visitors to Los Cabos.

Tourism As The Engine

The Los Cabos Tourism Board had one focus for the community for a number of years, and it was strategically connected to getting as many tourists as possible to visit the beach resort destination.

It worked to bring tourism to the town in sheer numbers during the Spring Break travel season, for example. However, the real question about the benefit to the town of mass tourism was called into question.

It got to the point where mass tourism was creating more of a challenge to the community than a benefit. There was a marked increase in crime, waste, and traffic accidents due to the increase in visitation.

Los Cabos struggled to keep up with the demand of the increased tourist counts with more resorts, and more amenities, along with negative impacts to infrastructure such as roads, the airport, and more recently, the limited amount of water from the sea.

More importantly, these negative impacts resulted in a declining experience for tourists to Los Cabos.

Quality Over Quantity

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Something had to give. With limited resources to provide great tourist experiences, Los Cabos had to try another strategy to fuel its tourism economy.

Instead, the beach resort destination has decided to focus on the quality of the tourist experience instead of the quantity of tourists.

Director of the Los Cabos Tourism Board, Rodrigo Esponda Cascajares, recently announced that the strategy of the organization was to attract a higher quality level of visitors to Los Cabos than was the focus of the past.

Instead of focusing on the value travel segment, Los Cabos is now working to lure visitors with greater purchasing power for items such as higher-priced resort hotel rooms and upscale amenities.

So far, it has been working out. Los Cabos is the third most popular destination in the country according to recent airport traffic.

According to research, international visitors currently spend an average of 9,000 pesos (approximately $500) per day, which is double the amount of spend at other popular Mexican destinations. This was $250 more per day than what was spent by tourists in 2019.

The Los Cabos Tourism Board estimates that this was a more than 76 percent growth in visitors with greater purchasing power.

What It Means For Tourists

For tourists coming to Los Cabos in the future, it means more upscale customer service on their vacation and more great amenities to enjoy.

For example, more upscale spas and restaurants along with adventure opportunities and even PGA quality championship golf courses. A potential celebrity chef restaurant will not be out of the question.

However, all of the great amenities will come at a price.

The value traveler that used to come to Los Cabos on a last-minute cheap getaway will experience some challenges that may attract them to other locations such as Puerto Vallarta and even Puerto Peñasco.

They simply may be priced out of the market.

The future customer of Los Cabos should expect to pay more for resort-style accommodations and amenities.

Additionally, prices for bars, restaurants, and nightlife will continue to climb as these tourism businesses upgrade their service to accommodate more luxury-seeking customers.

With the focus on quality over quantity, travelers should not expect airfares to fall. However, planes may be less crowded for travelers visiting the beach resort destination.