Cancun Hoteliers Want to Brush Spring Breakers Off

After becoming one of the underpinnings of the tourist inflow in Cancun over the past decade –following the devastation left behind by hurricane Gilbert in 1988- this travel destination of the Mexican Caribbean is willing to snub the so-called spring breakers that come to these shores by the thousands every year.

Since fares have flared up and the travel destination has buttressed its stance as a solid circuit, the segment of young American college students is not welcome news anymore.

After hurricane Gilbert wreaked havoc in Cancun back in 1988 –even though only lesser damages to the local hotel infrastructure were reported- the image of the sector and its ability to lure visitors were not restored immediately.

Then, impresarios launched out caravans up north in an effort to reach out to troves of outbound travelers in the U.S. They also slashed their hotel fares and opened trips for youngsters in their late teens and early twenties. This endeavor gave birth to a massive turnout of shallow-pocketed trekkers.

Julian Balbuena Alonso, former president of the Mexican Association of Travel Agencies in Cancun, remembers those students panned out to be some sort of a safety valve for the vacation center. The first spring breakers, 4,000 in all, landed there in 1989.

In the mid 1990s, scores of spring breakers made it to Cancun. However, that number has dwindled dramatically ever since.

Between 1993 and 1994, the amount of U.S. traveling students jumped from 80,000 to 100,000. Lack of knowledge as to the way these young people were supposed to be treated and catered to brought about the vandalizing of rooms, the formation of wreck posses and disrespect toward local authorities.

On the heels of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S., most parents decided to prevent their kids from making risky trips abroad and the number of incoming spring breakers tapered off to a record low 35,000, following the arrival of 90,000 students in the year 2000.

In 2003, Cancun logged only 40,000 spring breakers and just 45,000 of them are expected to make the journey to Cancun this time around.

This trend will remain unchanged in coming years because –experts believe- there are more places in the Caribbean and across Mexico, like Acapulco, where these reckless trippers are in high demand.