Tourism expert urges service certification over hotel expansion in Quintana Roo

CHETUMAL, MX. – Following the crisis recorded in Quintana Roo’s tourist destinations due to low visitor numbers and flight cancellations to major airports, Juan Ignacio Athie Lambarri, a member of the Citizen Planning Council, acknowledged the need to address factors such as migration, hotel development, service quality, and security, as otherwise economic and tourism recovery will not be achieved.

He considered that the tourism crisis must be analyzed in depth, as the construction of more hotel rooms has been prioritized without taking into account the needs this implies, with growth exceeding 40 percent in the last ten years.

Although official figures speak of certain levels of migrants arriving in the state, the reality is that there are Venezuelans, Cubans, and Haitians who lack employment opportunities, which generates certain levels of violence. Additionally, he pointed out that the inputs required by the industry are not being generated, as only three percent of the approximately 20 billion pesos in demand is produced.

He insisted that the state does not necessarily require a greater number of hotel rooms, but rather a better tourism and population offer and quality to achieve sustainability.

He warned that if residents do not have a better quality of life, a better transportation system, and better public services, such as drinking water, while observing that tourists do have them, social confrontation is generated. Therefore, he emphasized the need to analyze how to make tourism sustainable in all aspects.

Following the crisis recorded in tourist destinations due to decreased visitors, Athie Lambarri acknowledged that there were various factors against it, such as the reduction of flights ordered by the United States government due to lack of political agreements, as well as the elimination of routes due to airlines’ decision to withdraw some aircraft from the market for maintenance.

He indicated that there is a cumulation of factors that directly impact, as Quintana Roo does not have the best hotel and tourism offer, so it is necessary to analyze strategies to improve visitors’ experience and not just offer more hotel rooms.

Finally, he considered the certification of tourist destinations necessary to guarantee better service quality, as well as the certification of municipal governments, hotels, and sector workers, since, if all these factors are not analyzed comprehensively, economic recovery will not occur.