Mazatlan’s recent Carnival celebrations broke visitor records, with more than 650,000 revelers taking part in the five-day event, up from 500,000 visitors in 2013.
That would be good news for any destination. For Mazatlan, which has experienced rough times in recent years due to crime and cruise line pullouts in 2011, these numbers are “fantastic,” according to Frank Cordova, secretary of tourism for the state of Sinaloa, where Mazatlan is located.
Of the total visitors, 50,000 were from the U.S. and Canada, an increase of 15,000 over last year’s Carnival event.
“We have more flights and more seats this year from the U.S., with 8,000 seats per week vs. 5,000 in 2013,” he said.The Carnival numbers mirror what has taken place thus far in Mazatlan this winter.
“We’re up 15% in international arrivals; hotel occupancy has run between 65% and 70%, which is 16% above last year for the winter season,” he said.
U.S. and Canadian visitors number more than 300,000 year to date.
“We haven’t had this many during a winter season since 2007. We’ve also had 40 cruise calls from Holland America, Norwegian Cruise Lines and Azamara Club Cruises.”
Tourism officials are pleased the way the tourist sector has come together, according to Cordova.
“We’re not stopping. We’re cleaning up the Golden Zone (hotel area), spiffing up the aquarium and generally polishing Mazatlan from end to end,” he said.
Looking ahead, Carnival dates for 2015 are Feb. 12 to 17.
No comments:
Post a Comment