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Since 2022, nightclubs and bars in Los Cabos have reported huge reductions in sales numbers, with some establishments down 30%.
This big change in spending habits from travelers has impacted business owners heavily, and they are now looking towards evolving their offering to better attract travelers in Los Cabos back to their establishments.
Details on what exactly this evolution will be are hard to come by, although good guesses would be drink promotions and a more varied entertainment offering.
With that being said, travelers aren’t opting to have a dry vacation and an early night. Instead, their focus has turned to the awesome in-resort bar, nightclub, and entertainment venues.
The following are the top reasons travelers are choosing resort nightlife instead of heading downtown.
A Matter Of Cost
The first and biggest factor in travelers choosing to stay in-resort for their entertainment needs is cost.
Prices in Los Cabos have been rising steadily over the past year, hitting many travelers’ budgets harder than expected when first planning to visit the destination.
Accommodation, flights, transport, insurance, and even simple joys like street tacos are all more expensive than 12 months ago.
Thankfully, Los Cabos is home to a wealth of all-inclusive vacation package options, which help to keep budgets under control when visiting. Unfortunately for local businesses, this means the option of drinking on the house in the resort bars and nightclubs is too good of a deal to pass up.
Additionally, when you add in the busy entertainment schedules many resorts offer, with a different show or theme sometimes laid on each night of the week, it’s easy to see why businesses downtown are struggling to pull travelers away.
Convenience Is Key
It isn’t all about cost when it comes to explaining the rising popularity of staying in-resort for entertainment.
For many travelers, the convenience of being able to sample a mostly responsible amount of tequila and cocktails and then amble to the elevator and straight into bed is a level of convenience too good to pass up on vacation.
While Los Cabos is generally very good for transport, with a huge number of taxi and ride-hailing app drivers on call 24/7, it can’t compare with the convenience offered in-resort.
Unparalleled Luxury
Luxury is the calling card of Los Cabos; the destination is famed the world over for its top-tier resorts that offer a vacation experience that could make the British Royal family blush.
And it isn’t just in the décor and service that this luxury extends; many of Los Cabos’ resorts offer truly spectacular nightlife options, ranging from black-tie cocktail bars to casinos.
In fact, across the destination, there is a resort for every traveler’s taste, which is no doubt an aspect of why Los Cabos continues to grow at such a fast rate as a destination.
That isn’t to say that luxury can’t be found downtown in Cabo San Lucas or San Jose Del Cabo, but there aren’t many establishments that can compete with the destination’s resorts on this metric.
Safety & Security
While Los Cabos is a safe destination for travelers, like any big tourism hotspot, it has its fair share of crime.
Furthermore, it’s no secret that late at night, when travelers have had their fill of drinks, is one of the most opportunistic moments petty criminals can make their move.
That’s a worry that melts into the background when making use of resort nightlife. Across Los Cabos resorts, there is a very high standard of security upheld, with on-site security guards patrolling at all times, as well as extensive security cameras and security gates/fencing.
All of this put together offers up a super safe and secure atmosphere where travelers can truly relax and switch off.
Downtown Is Still Worth Experiencing
While there are some very strong reasons to make use of in-resort entertainment and nightlife options, travelers should still experience the downtown offerings at least once or twice during their vacation.
If even just for a few hours, the atmosphere and experiences on offer can trump many of the points made above, especially for travelers searching for a more wild and loose nightlife experience.
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Paul E
Tuesday 2nd of January 2024
My family and friends have been coming to Cabo for 23 years. We bought a timeshare there specifically to make sure we could visit for two weeks every year. We are middle class public safety workers and loved meeting locals at our resort, restaurants, the local firefighters and missionaries. We have volunteered and casually looked at condos and homes. We have explored the small towns up and down both coasts to LaPaz and back. We are sad to say that we are probably done coming to Cabo regularly.
Why? Vacations for us are not about gaudy luxury and pampering. News flash for all you sales people and sake dependent vendors. Hyper focus on luxury is killing Cabo tourism. There aren’t enough people with disposable income in the USA that are interested in really visiting Mexico. A walled resort of luxury could be anywhere. Street crimes, fear of cops, cartel selling heroine, cocaine, weed, and fentanyl on every beach and corner at night is a deal breaker for us. Where are the marines and federalies!?
Our last two trips this year cost more per person for food and beverages than most US tourism cities. Safer places.
American real estate companies have driven up the cost 300% to buy anything residential. And lack of municipal planning has wrecked your transportation profile.
We comment Mexico not for a Latin ‘show.’ We come to relax, get a value of 2:1 for our dollar, meet interesting people, swim and warm up, and have some modest adventures. We are like 80% of the US traveler profile. Not poor and ‘cheap’, and not pretending to need or deserve the pampered luxury BS that resorts are desperately trying to sell.
You want economy of scale. Sell 300 customers a night a great dinner and drinks for $25 dollars, or sell 50 people a $50 per person dinner with shitty service and dark sidewalks. Cabo is way better in the daytime, with locals and families, etc. Although too expensive now, crowded, and booming with overpriced real estate.
PBD
Monday 1st of January 2024
My wife and I were in Cabo in November. We loved the town, the food was awesome, and everyone was very nice. We walked around downtown both nights and there was nothing appealing about the bars that made it worth going in for a drink. We aren't college kids on spring break. The music was booming. The few people inside weren't smiling or having fun. The guys outside waving us in felt desperate. Moreover, it was a much more expensive getaway than we expected. When you're spending $100s of dollars for lunch, dinner, and activities, it's not an easy, spontaneous decision to go into a bar or club and spend a bunch of money on overpriced tequila shots and cerveza. Especially if you have unlimited drinks at a resort.
Idea: Give tourists a Mexican fiesta experience. Big, colorful, and fun. Hire a charismatic MC who makes people laugh and want to party. Have him put up a pinata at 9pm every night and put funny and goofy stuff inside. Tourists will come in for that and end up staying all night. Have a good, dancy latin pop band.
Heck, just hire me. I plan big party events at a bar on a lake in Montana. I get 1000+ attendance outside of a small city with no public transportation. Put my party ideas in a tourist hot-spot with bold and fun advertising on social media. Downtown Cabo needs a fresh party spot! ;)
LOUIS Salatich
Monday 1st of January 2024
All inclusive resorts destroys the local communities because they cater to those that are not interested in the country's they visit. They want everything Americanized. What is the point of visiting a foreign country? You may as well visit a resort in your own country. The over building of all inclusive resorts have destroyed Cabo
Greg Moore
Sunday 31st of December 2023
Add in all the bar scams, drug solicitations, and shake downs…no wonder people are staying away. Using your credit card at a bar downtown has fraud written all over it. Why Cabo treats its visitors like it’s the last time they’ll ever see them is beyond me. They don’t call it Cabo Scam Lucas for nothing. How does Cabo not realize they’re justifying the negative stereotypes Mexico is known for?
Anne Drees
Sunday 31st of December 2023
Traffic, increasing costs of taxis, as you noted petty crime at night, Uber drivers who no longer talk to you and are friendly are reasons after 35 years in Cabo we are opting to stay at the resort and not go downtown. People, on a whole, are drinking less but wanting high end refreshments. The resorts willl make you special non-alcoholic drinks. Not so much in downtown Cabo.