Meagan Drillinger
Mexico is closing 2015 on a strong note with new
resorts and airline routes expanding the tourism landscape, and even more
growth and expansion is coming in 2016.
According to U.S. Transportation Secretary
Anthony Foxx, the U.S. and Mexico are going to allow unlimited routes between
the two countries in 2016. Pending “internal ratification procedures” in
Mexico, the agreement would permit U.S. carriers to serve any location in
Mexico from any location in the U.S. This is different from the previous
agreement that allowed only a limited number of U.S. carriers to operate
between each city pair. This comes on the heels of Delta Air Lines planning to
increase its stake in Aeromexico.
Earlier in December, a bridge opened that crosses the border from Tijuana Airport to San Diego. Passengers pay
$18 to walk through the Cross Border Xpress, a 390-foot passageway to Tijuana Airport, which serves about 30
Mexican destinations as well as international markets. Target customers are the estimated 60% of Tijuana Airport
passengers who are coming to the U.S., about 2.6 million last year, according
to a report in USA Today.
“Last year, I did a wedding in Puerto Vallarta.
The couple lived in San Diego. It was cheaper for them to fly out of Tijuana
than San Diego,” said Hope Smith, founder of Born to Travel in Sierra Madre, Calif. “The Tijuana
airport is the second-largest in Mexico next to Mexico City. You can fly
nonstop to destinations like Shanghai and to many cities in Mexico, many of
them being the beach resorts. The bridge is going to help the airport grow as
well as help both countries grow economically.”
On the hospitality front, a recent report in the
Jamaica Observer newspaper said Butch Stewart, chairman of Sandals Resorts
International, has officially announced that discussions were far advanced with
business interests in Mexico to open two Sandals resort hotels in that country.
Though details were not given and Sandals did not wish to comment to Travel
Weekly, Stewart told 300 travel agents at the Star Awards and Gala Dinner and
Awards Ceremony that the company is in final negotiations to construct two
resorts in Mexico.
AMResorts is ending 2015 with two
resort openings in Mexico. The new Mexico AMResorts are Sunscape Puerto
Vallarta, which debuted Dec. 16, and Breathless Cabo San Lucas, which opened
Dec. 17. Sunscape Puerto Vallarta has 320 rooms, six restaurants and four bars,
while Breathless Cabo San Lucas has 169 suites.
Looking beyond 2016, Karisma Hotels and Resorts announced at its Gourment
Inclusive Vacation Consultant Awards that the company will be opening two
all-inclusive properties in Puerto Vallarta and Huatulco in 2017. Details were not
available at the time of the announcement, but it has been confirmed that
Karisma is expanding to the west coast of Mexico.