All Inclusive hotels now include COVID-19 testing in Cancun
The COVID-19 pandemic prompted Cancun hotels to prepare their staff to apply the sanitary norms established by the Health authorities. Here's how to do it.
Since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), the hotel sector has had to modify its offerings in order to attract tourism to its facilities, among them, flexible cancellation policies, low prices for room reservations, and the addition of health security against the virus.
There are hotels that have included COVID-19 tests in their packages so that the tourist that hires them will have fewer problems to be able to board their flights back to their places of origin. In these lodging centers, they have been in charge of creating and implementing travel insurance, which is annexed to what is included in the 'All Inclusive', to ensure the stay of guests in their facilities
In some hotels, such as the Wyndham, the insurance covers a sum of 10 thousand dollars in protection for tourists who book with them from the moment they set foot in the lodging center.
In all the hotel complexes the capacity of people was reduced, maintaining the rules imposed by the Ministry of Health (Sesa) to continue operating without being sanctioned; each hotel that includes applications of PCR tests to detect COVID-19, informs its guests in detail about them, in addition to offering them affordable prices.
The COVID-19 pandemic prompted hotels to prepare their staff to apply the sanitary standards that global, national, and state health authorities indicate for receiving tourism in every lodging facility that is open and operating.
At each arrival, the staff measures the temperature of the tourists, reminds them to use masks, the Sana Distancia, and each client is asked to pass through the disinfection booths in some of them.
They are also in charge of the sterilization of spaces such as gyms, restaurants, and entertainment areas of each hotel; within the restaurants, hotels must maintain the sterilization process of the glasses and plates that are used and stored, using gloves for buffet service.
The sanitary safety measures applied by the World Travel and Tourism Council, reinforce the work of each lodging center and allows health authorities to be aware of the training they take during the pandemic.
The flexible cancellation policy that hotels have found it necessary to apply, can be applied for last-minute cancellations without penalties; there is also talk of rescheduling or cancellations with a minimum of 72 hours, will be given a full refund of the cost.
If the cancellation is made one or two days before the arrival date, a proportional reimbursement is applied, which each hotel decides; hotels wish to receive tourists in their resorts in order to gradually recover the economy that COVID-19 has weakened worldwide in the sector.
Some 270 hotels in Cancun and Riviera Maya remain partially closed
One year after the COVID-19 pandemic in Quintana Roo, a total of 267 hotels in both Cancun and the Riviera Maya remain temporarily closed, which means that some 20 thousand people have not recovered their jobs, informed the presidents of the associations of both destinations, Roberto Cintron and Antonio Chaves Palomo.
At a press conference, they detailed that the total number of rooms that have been vacated in both destinations corresponds to 10,862 rooms; 8,500 in the Riviera Maya in 250 hotels temporarily closed and 2,362 in Cancun in 17 lodging centers, which would be equivalent to the total number of rooms available in Zacatecas, with 7,689; Tlaxcala, with 5,3189; Colima, 8,283; Campeche, 8,395; Aguascalientes, 7,518; and Durango, 5,974, according to Datatur statistics.
Cháves Palomo, from the Riviera Maya Hotel Association, pointed out that the lodging centers are still not open after a year of "quarantine", as a consequence of low occupancies ranging from 20 to 30%.
He mentioned that the number of closed rooms affects close to 15 thousand tourism workers, who have not been able to return to their jobs in the destination, not to mention the indirect jobs generated by this activity.
Roberto Cintron, president of Cancun's hoteliers, stated that an average of 4 thousand people are still out of work due to the low occupancy rates.
He informed that the hotels that are still closed in Cancun are: Courtyard Bay Marriot, Villa Palmeras, Cancun Rosa, Suites Villa Italia, Gran Royal Lagoon, Armar House, Maria Dolores, Yum Kaax, Suites Costa Blanca, Sunset Marina, Laguna Suites, Avenida Cancun, Bell-Air Collection, Ramada, Adhara, and Calypso Cancun and Moon Palace Nizuc,
Both hoteliers mentioned that many of these properties took advantage of the closure for remodeling and maintenance, hoping that as the vaccination progresses in Mexico, the United States, and other countries, they will restart operations and rehire their employees.
