Q & A with Artemio SantosChief of Cancun´s Visitors & Congress Bureau

by Jose Carlos de Santiago

Cancun will reopen most of its tourist facilities to the world come December 15, following the deadly trail of Hurricane Wilma and an all-out renovation process to this jewel of the Mexican Caribbean.

Q.- Can you tell us briefly how much of an impact Hurricane Wilma had on Cancun? How many hotels were damaged and how is the recovery process going on at this moment?

A.- A month and a half have gone by since Hurricane Wilma hit Cancun and I must say that, as we speak, all services are up and running. Fortunately, damages to the hotel infrastructure were cosmetic rather than structural, so the recovery process is going to be both swift and smooth.

Right now, there are 6,000 hotel rooms fully operational in Cancun and the reopening of the travel destination is slated for December 15 with President Vicente Fox and Quintana Roo governor at the ceremony. We´re also inviting a number of Central American and South American heads of state because we want everybody to see that Cancun will now be better than ever before.

Hurricane Wilma, however, brought some benefits, too. It´s giving us the chance of working together to get the job done and make things look brighter for Cancun. I must also say that hotel occupancy right now is doing good and that we hope to have all hotels open for tourists by may next year.

Q.- Cancun´s infrastructure also endured severe damage as a result of Wilma, I mean, power and water supplies, cesspool water treatment plants, and the like. What are you doing to reverse that?

A.- Those services are working perfectly. The Federal Electricity Commission has done an extraordinary job and we are very proud of those people who have worked so hard to get things back to normal as soon as possible. Many of those workers had never been to Cancun before. However, they answered our call for help and are still doing a great job.

Q.- What about Cancun´s beaches and shoreline? I understand that Wilma played havoc with them as well.

A.- You´re right. Between five to six miles of beaches were torn apart by the hurricane, and the undertow swept away tons of sand and deposited somewhere else. I must say that Cancun will have some new beaches as well following the December 15 reopening. The country´s federal government has already earmarked some $25 million to restore the beaches and the coastline. I believe those places will be ready to go as early as may 2006.

Q.- I´d like to turn to the solidarity issue. Many Spanish hotel groups have done a great job at the Mayan Riviera, lodging many tourists who were stranded there. Bahia Principe Hotels is a good case in point. What do you make of this solidarity effort?

A.- Well, we are a great destination divided in two major circuits: Cancun and the Mayan Riviera. There´s only one small strip of undeveloped land in between of approximately 13 miles long. Between the two circuits, we add up 52,000 hotel rooms. Wilma only gave the Mayan Riviera a slap on the wrist, so to speak. In addition to that, we got the help of several hotel groups, like Bahia Principe and other Spanish chains.

Coordination was very important to put up with this situation and most of the cancellations in Cancun were redirected to the Mayan Riviera. We try to help one another because the two of us make up one solid economic bloc. We share providers, employees, workers and try to complement each other every step of the way.

Q.- What kind of investment is Cancun planning to carry out in terms of communication and publicity, especially after Hurricane Wilma?

A.- The Mexican government, through the Tourism Promotion Council, has already earmarked $10 million for those destinations that were hit harder by Wilma. In the case of Quintana Roo, that money goes to Cancun, Cozumel, Islas Mujeres and the Mayan Riviera.

These funds will be funneled into three major outbound markets: the United States and Canada, Mexico and Europe. We´re also deploying a number of emerging promotional campaigns.

There´s something else I´d like to say. Cancun is more than just a sun-and-sand travel destination. We´re now giving a big boost to the MICE sector, to golf and spas, to shopping, to Mayan culture, which is such an important issue among European travelers. We expect this endeavor will play off in the near future and will definitely help Cancun become a much better destination.