Cancún Restaurants Rely on Holiday Events to Save Year

The restaurant sector is facing a severe drop in consumption, declaring itself in the red this year-end, according to Julio Villarreal Zapata, president of the National Chamber of the Restaurant and Seasoned Food Industry (Canirac) Quintana Roo.

“2025 has been a very complicated year, with many challenges. We have struggled a bit with consumption within restaurants, with increases, with economic stability, and that has made it a quite complicated year. I believe that if we weigh all the restaurants in the state, we will end in the red,” he said.

Given the critical situation the sector is going through, they are counting on the organization of holiday parties, toasts, and year-end celebrations to provide them with some relief to face the start of 2026.

In restaurants, he said, menu costs cannot be increased by more than 8% to 10%, so they must seek to prepare dishes and drinks with local supplies to mitigate the impact and offer quality products to customers.

Among the supplies that recorded the highest increase is meat with an 18% to 20% increase. Similarly, he indicated that dairy products and fruits and vegetables also increased.

Nautical Sector Also “Up to Their Necks”

Just last week, the Nautical Associates of Quintana Roo also reported that November did not bring them any economic improvement, as the rental of their vessels has not risen beyond 20% throughout the current month.

This is despite the fact that, in the last two weeks, hotel occupancy rebounded above 75% in Cancún, Puerto Morelos, and Isla Mujeres, and that indicator is what drives sectors such as the nautical one, which depend on a good influx of tourists to offer their services.

The impact has affected around 10,000 employees with the implementation of so-called “solidarity days,” meaning 50% of the workforce, acknowledged the union leader, Francisco Fernández Millán.

“This was a low season, very low, where nautical operators with the best operating records reach 10-20 percent. This low season situation started in a nosedive last September. It’s three months of drastic decline,” the leader admitted.

He hoped that December would help regularize the reincorporation of the entire workforce. “It would be unfair to them to continue with this situation,” he said.