Town Predicts 50% Drop in Springbreakers

(Acapulco, JG 29 January) Acapulco's Secretary of Tourism, Jéssica García Rojas, confirmed on Thursday that she expects a 50% drop in the number of students arriving in Acapulco to celebrate their Spring Break. The reason: fear caused by imprecise reporting in the US and Canada about acts of violence. She promised an increase in promotional efforts in 2011 to help recover from the damage done to Acapulco’s image by drug conflicts in the poor suburbs. Spring Break tour consolidators like Student City, Bianchi Rossi Tours and Splash Tours all remarked that the problem is that parents of students are vetoing travel to Acapulco, mainly because the Canadian and US governments have issued travel advisories against it.

The promotional activity will be coordinated with the state and federal tourism promotion agencies and the Trust for Tourism Promotion in Acapulco (Fidetur) as well as the association of hoteliers, which worked to develop this market niche. Recovery will be gradual. According to Ms. García, last year at least 8,000 students visited Acapulco. This year, the number is expected to be 4,000 or less. Last year an ad campaign on MTV helped boost attendance. The cost was reportedly US$100,000, or approximately $200 pesos per visiting student.

Mexico-source tourism, on the other hand, is up in Acapulco by approximately 15%, and the long weekends approaching (February 5-7 and March 19-21) are promising. The Mexican Open Tennis Tournament will also bring people to the port city; so will the annual Tourism Fair, which comes before Holy Week.