Major Challenges For Easter End Holy Week Tourism.

Although hotel occupancy in Mexico has remained stable in recent years, challenges are anticipated for the Easter and Holy Week holidays of 2025 that could be affecting the speed of sales.

Over the past three years, Puerto Vallarta has shown solid performance in terms of hotel occupancy during the Easter and Holy Week seasons. Below are the statistics available for each year:

2022:

● During the holiday season, an average hotel occupancy of 85% was recorded, with peaks of 88% during Easter Week and estimates of 90% for the last weekend of the period.

2023:

● Puerto Vallarta positioned itself as the destination with the highest hotel occupancy in Mexico, reaching 86% during the holiday period from April 3 to 16. This percentage represented an increase of 4% compared to 2022 and 6% compared to 2019.

2024:

● During Holy Week, hotel occupancy reached peaks of 94% during the "holy days", with an average overall occupancy of 85% throughout the two-week holiday. This translated into more than 20,000 hotel rooms occupied daily between March 24 and April 6, reaching 24,433 occupied rooms on the night of Friday, March 29. In addition, an average of almost 50,000 tourists were registered per night, exceeding 60,000 on some occasions.

These data reflect a positive trend in hotel occupancy in Puerto Vallarta during the Holy Week and Easter seasons in recent years, consolidating it as one of the most prominent tourist destinations in Mexico.

However, for this year 2025, Puerto Vallarta presents important challenges in terms of sales, hotels that by this time were already sold out, present very slow figures for the occupation of Holy Week and Easter. Among the factors that could influence this trend are:

1. Increase in costs for international tourists: Starting in 2025, the Federal Rights Law establishes that international tourists entering Mexico must pay 48 dollars per person, which represents an increase of 20% compared to 2024. This increase could discourage some foreign travelers, affecting hotel demand.
   
   
2. Perception of insecurity in certain destinations: The perception of insecurity in some regions of Mexico can negatively influence tourists' decision when choosing their destinations, affecting reservations in areas with higher crime rates.
   
   
3. Competition from other tourist destinations: Competition with other international destinations that offer more competitive prices or attractive promotions can divert the attention of potential tourists, reducing reservations in Mexican destinations.
   
   
4. Changes in traveler preferences: After the pandemic, many tourists are looking for more personalized experiences away from the crowds, opting for alternative accommodations such as vacation rentals or less crowded destinations, which could affect traditional hotel occupancy.
   
   
5. Global economic factors: The global economy faces challenges that can impact the purchasing power of tourists, leading them to postpone or modify their travel plans, thus affecting hotel reservations.

It is important to note that, despite these challenges, some destinations in Mexico maintain positive expectations. For example, San Luis Potosí expects to reach 85% to 90% hotel occupancy during Holy Week 2025, thanks to tourism projects that seek to attract more visitors.

Although there are factors that could be slowing hotel sales for Holy Week and Easter 2025, the outlook varies by region and the strategies implemented to attract tourists.