Meagan Drillinger
This summer was a boon season for Riviera Nayarit, as hoteliers saw high occupancy rates, and arrivals numbers went up in droves. According to the Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau's Barometer Survey, hotel occupancy peaked at 87.4% in July, with 218,000 visitors. Visitor arrivals in August reached 305,813.
And the summer success was just a piece of the pie from what has been an overall stellar 2017. From January to July, occupancy averaged at 80.5%, with overnight visitors reaching nearly 1.4 million, an increase from 1.2 million the same period the previous year.
Though summer is just ending now, it won't be long before we cruise into the new year. In anticipation of the next travel season, Riviera Nayarit has a slew of exciting new developments and attractions that are on the radar to keep the destination fresh for repeat travelers, and exciting for first-timers.
La Mandarina Complex will be a 125-room One&Only hotel. The project is under construction with a budget of $110 million and a projected opening date in late 2018. The development of La Mandarina in the Monteon at Compostela takes the development one step further with more than 630 acres with a total investment of $870 million and will include two polo fields, an equestrian center, two obstacle courses, villas and new hotels including a Rosewood property.
Grupo Vidanta's much anticipated Cirque du Soleil theme park is scheduled to open its doors in 2018, as well. The immersive theme park will include a water park and nature park, as well as an outdoor evening show that will be able to accommodate 3,000 to 5,000 spectators.
The Grupo Hotelero Santa Fe announced the acquisition and expansion of the Hotel Bel Air in Flamingos, which will operate under the Krystal Grand brand. The property will add 480 guestrooms and one suite in addition to a new convention center and a dozen restaurants and bars. It will be scheduled for completion by the end of this year.
Also at the end of this year, the Grand Sirenis Matlali Beachfront Development will see an investment of $28.5 million that will be used to build the second stage of the development. The addition will include 140 suites that are scheduled to open in December.
As far as accessibility, the first stretch of the Jala-ahia de Banderas Highway, from Jala to Compostela, was recently completed. The second and third sections are underway, with the Compostela to Las Varas section set to be completed by December and Las Varas & Las Varas to Bahia de Banderas is to begin construction in 2018. The new 105-mile highway will reduce drive time from Guadalajara to Riviera Nayarit's beach from five hours to approximately two. In addition, the Government of the State of Nayarit recently inaugurated the new Tepic-San Blas Highway, which reduces the driving distance between the capital and the Historic Port to only 20 minutes. A new dock in San Blas, in addition to the highway developments, is going to see a spike in tourism to this tiny coastal community.
Still to come, the Marival Group has purchased land adjacent to the Marival Residences, where they will open their first beachfront property, which will open in October 2018.
A new Iberostar hotel is also underway in Riviera Nayarit, in Litibu. This $80 million property will have 300 rooms and is set to begin construction soon.
Grupo Brisas, of Hotel Nizuc fame in Cancun, is also scouting land for a second property to open in Riviera Nayarit.