Javier Aranda Pedrero
has become Director of Tourism for the Riviera Maya Tourism Promotion Board
(FPTRM).Aranda Pedrero joined FPTRM following his work as Under Secretary of
Tourism Promotion for the Tourism Secretariat in Quintana Roo and has
extensive
experience in the tourism industry in both private and public sectors for
over
20 years. As Director of Tourism, Aranda Pedrero said that his strategy would
include marketing and promotional efforts to draw even greater interest from
the top markets for Riviera Maya, the U.S.
and Canada, as well as
Europe. He said “It is my goal to ensure
that the
Strategic Promotion Plan for 2007 will be continued and that in the year
ahead
we will strive to exceed expectations and keep the Riviera Maya among the
top destinations
worldwide.”

Recently released by the
Riviera
Maya Tourism Promotion Board, the 2006 tourism statistics and trends
revealed that
the Riviera Maya is again a hot destination for 2007. The final numbers
reported a 20.7 percent increase in tourist arrivals for 2006 (welcoming
approximately 2.673 people) compared to 2005, and almost 10 percent
compared to
2004. This growth in tourism to the Riviera Maya equates to almost five times
more than the international index, since worldwide tourism increased by 4.5
percent in 2006 according to statistics reported by the UN World Tourism
Organization.

 

The
Riviera Maya
Tourism Promotion Board noted that 2005 was an unusual year due to hurricanes
Emily and Wilma, which is why it is also important compare 2006 numbers to
statistics from 2004. The increase in tourist arrivals in 2006 as compared to
2004 was 9.5 percent, which equates to double the growth rate of worldwide
tourism.

 

Tourism
increases are also evident in Riviera Maya’s hotel room inventory, which has
reached 30,705 rooms in 2006, compared to 26,980 available rooms in 2005 and
23,512 in 2004. In terms of hotel occupancy, 2006 showed an increase to 71.9
percent occupancy as compared to 74.5 percent occupancy in 2005, although not
quite reaching 2004 occupancy of 86.4 percent. However, room night
occupancies
had a considerable increase in 2006 as compared to 2004, reaching 7.889
million
occupied room nights in 2006 versus 7.151 million in 2004.

 

The
U.S. continues to be
the leading country of
origin for tourism to the Riviera Maya, accounting for nearly 45 percent
of the
2.6 million arrivals, followed by Europe with 27.95 percent,
Canada with 16.41
percent and Mexico with 10.40 percent.

 

Based
on the
outstanding statistics for 2006, nearly three million tourists are
expected to
visit the Riviera Maya in 2007 with occupancy reaching approximately 78
percent. Forecasts for 2007 also show an increase in the number of hotel
rooms to
34,113.
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