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As Los Cabos continue to grow in popularity, the first European flight is set to land in the resort city this June from Spain. While the destination has long been popular with North Americans, Los Cabos is looking for further expand its international market.
New flight options from Europe
Los Cabos has become an international tourism hotspot over the last two decades. Their two largest markets are the United States and Canada. However, always looking to expand, Los Cabos is adding a direct flight from Europe and hoping for several more.
The first flight from Europe opening the door is a direct flight from Madrid, Spain to Los Cabos. The groundbreaking first flight will take place on June 20th.
According to the Director of Tourism Trust of Los Cabos (Fiturca), Rodrigo Espanda Cascajares, “This flight will allow Los Cabos to position itself in a new market, which is the European market. There will be 450 visitors from Europe every week, it will be arriving on Monday afternoons. This will allow the European market to open up with a regular airline.”
There are great expectations for the Madrid to Los Cabos route. Seeing a successful route from Europe to Los Cabos will hopefully open opportunities for new European countries. As the Director of Fiturca stated, “We are working on several possibilities in the case of the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, France, and other markets that have potential. The reason for optimism is there is a new generation of aircraft, and they are looking for new destinations.”
United States market opening up
The United States has been a top two market, along with Canada, for visitors to Los Cabos. However, the west coast has been overwhelmingly the largest market inside the U.S. Now it appears Los Cabos airport is receiving visitors from different markets inside the states.
Cascajares talked about this important shift, “There are 6 direct routes coming from important cities in the United States. This resulted in over 500 flights in March alone, from the U.S. This is a great opportunity for growth because the United States is coming from non-primary markets, that is, not the west coast. They are coming from the Midwest or the northeast, and this is a great opportunity to continue expanding a world class destination.”
Los Cabos and its growing reputation
Los cabos has certainly become an enormous fixture for tourism in Mexico. While Cancun always had an enormous presence in North American tourism, Los Cabos is starting to find its niche. Being on the southern coast of the Baja California Sur, it has catered to tourists from the western United States for years. Now with expanded reach to different segments of the U.S., the results are starting to become clear.
March was the largest month for tourism in Los Cabos history. Los Cabos airport is already seeing more traffic through its gates than ever before. The peak tourism months for Los Cabos are coming to a close at the end of April, however with direct flights from Madrid in June, it may open up a second wave of business.
All this is great news for local businesses around Los Cabos. Extending the busy periods of the year and generating more traffic during slow times is essential to keeping Los Cabos a vibrant tourist destination.
If you’re planning to visit Los Cabos, the expanded global reach could affect you in numerous ways. Packed airports could be your first concern when arriving. More difficulty getting public transportation, if the city is not able to keep up with the demand, could be an issue. While Los Cabos is opening hotels/resorts more frequently, you could see higher prices on hotel rooms until they can accommodate the growth of the area.
