Data from STR has shown Mexico’s hotel industry occupancy dropped more than 50% at the end of April and beginning of May. This is after the outbreak of influenza A (H1N1), or the swine flu as it has also been called, was announced.“Mexico was already reeling from bad publicity from gang- and drug-related violence,” said Jan Freitag, vice president Global Development at STR. “This swine flu outbreak did not help the cause of the country’s hotel industry.”

Hotel’s in Mexico reported rapid occupancy decreases at the end of April and first few days of May:

? Sunday, 26 April, occupancy was at 36.1% (-21.1% in year-over-year results).

? By Wednesday, 29 April, occupancy was below 30%, down to 29.5% (-46.8% in year-over-year results)

? By Saturday, 2 May, occupancy had dropped even more to 24.4% (-62.1% in year-over-year results).

? Overall for the week, Mexico reported a -50.7% drop in occupancy.

“The impact of H1N1 influenza is severe, but we hope it will be fairly short-lived as the international media reports on the easing of travel restrictions,” Freitag added. “However, it will likely be felt throughout the summer.”
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