• SUSPENSION: Mexico’s more than 23,000 hotels will suspend activities until April 30 in response to Monday’s national health emergency in response to the coronavirus outbreak but its temporary closure will occur gradually, according to Mexico’s tourism authorities.
• SMALL & MEDIUM: Even before this week’s national emergency declaration, 645 small and medium hotels had already suspended operations and many of them were at risk of going bankrupt given the collapse in travel, according to the Mexican Association of Hotels and Motels (AMHM).
• GRADUAL: “The Ministries of Tourism and of Health work in coordination to determine the activity of the hotels…Sanitary procedures are prepared for the gradual closure of hotels”, said Miguel Torruco, Mexico’s Minister of Tourism. The government has yet to present an aid package for the industry.
• NUMBERS: The tourism industry represents more than 8.5% of Mexico’s GDP, according to OECD data and is the seventh most visited country in the world with more than 41 million international visitors annually, according to the UN’s World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
