Cancún Restaurants Face Tough Year-End, 2026 Outlook Grim

Cancún, Mexico — The restaurant sector in Cancún reports that during the second week of December, occupancy in dining establishments rebounded by 85%, following a very complicated 2025 for the industry. However, this was not sufficient to offset a difficult year.

Julio Villarreal Zapata, president of the National Chamber of the Restaurant and Seasoned Food Industry (Canirac) in Quintana Roo, stated that the end of the year provides economic relief for the gastronomic sector.

“Considering the December holiday festivities, the first week of December was bad; we did not have the expected occupancy. For the second week, an increase was reported,” he added.

However, he anticipated that 2026 appears equally complicated as 2025, due to expected increases in salary and tax terms, in addition to the loss of purchasing power among the population.

During the current year, the restaurant sector experienced a decline of between 12% and 17% below the income obtained in 2024.

“Unfortunately, even with the income represented by Christmas and New Year’s dinners, the annual balance shows double-digit losses compared to 2024,” added the Canirac president.

The downturn suffered by restaurateurs was reflected in the closure of at least 15 establishments in the northern zone of Quintana Roo that could not withstand the lack of diners, particularly experienced in the second half of the year.

“Those 15 restaurants that I mentioned might close, well they did close; there were some that changed locations to make their operations smaller, but yes, this year there have been more closures than openings,” added Villarreal Zapata.

In addition to the closures, just at the end of November, Canirac established contact with representatives of Nacional Financiera to request tailored credits that would allow them to cope with year-end expenses in terms of bonuses and tax matters.