What to know about the lodging offer in Cancun
In this brief review of the lodging offer in the tourist destination of Cancun, it can be summarized that the hotels are concentrated in the beach area (or hotel zone), most of them of superior categories.
Knowing in advance the conditions of your lodging is a matter of primary importance for the tourist, whether you are planning a pleasure, rest, or business trip, the affinity between the expected characteristics of the hotel and your experience can determine the success or failure of the trip. The lodging offer is the distinctive and determining characteristic of the tourist event since it favors the willingness to spend the night and makes the difference between the tourist and the visitor, and the tourist activity of the excursion.
At the state level, Cancun was for many years the locality with the largest number of hotels and rooms, however, with the expansion of tourism development on the coast, driving the accelerated development of the Riviera Maya, it has reached an almost equal offer and has surpassed the hotel offer in previous years.
The percentage of hotel occupancy in Cancun varies according to the season. September and November are the months with the lowest percentage. March and April are the months with the highest tourist influx, due to the vacation period known as "Semana Santa" (Easter Week) at the national level and Spring Break at the international level. Other important periods for the destination are the "summer" vacation period that includes the months of July and August and December and part of January for the winter vacations.
At a general level in Cancun, hotels have an average size of 201 rooms, four times the national average and above the maximum average size per category at a national level of 190 rooms in the "five-star" category. According to the above classification, the highest concentration of hotels is found in the beach zone, with 70% of the total registered by the Association, 23% in the city, and only 4% and 3% in Laguna and Puerto Morelos, respectively.
The high concentration of hotels in the beach zone is due to the destination's characteristic as a Sun and Beach destination. By categories, according to Tourism Ministry (SEDETUR), the distribution of hotels is mostly concentrated in 5 and 3-star hotels, each representing 23.84% of the total, followed by 4-star hotels representing 19.20%, followed by the Grand Tourism category with 15.23%, and finally 8.61% in the 2 and 9.27% in the 1-star categories. Within these categories, hostels, motels, and other non-category lodging are not included. There are offers of lodging without category. The network of motels could not be counted since they are not properly linked to tourist lodging.
By type of operation, taking into account the number of hotels registered by the Hotel Association of Cancun and Puerto Morelos (this number is taken into account since through their web page it is possible to obtain the following information), 45% work with the All-Inclusive plan (42), 37% with the European plan (35), 11% manage a mixed system and only 7% offer breakfast only. The average length of stay for Cancun is 4.6 to 4.9 days.
According to the latest data, it can be said that hotels in Cancun are concentrated in the beach zone (or hotel zone), mostly of higher categories. The type of operation with the highest number of participants is the all-inclusive plan and in second place the European plan. This offer is complemented by another one found in the city zone, related to other low-profile tourist segments, which use hotels of lower categories and even hostels and hotels without category. Additionally, there are other poles of tourist development nearby and within the municipal limits, such as Puerto Morelos, where there is also a lodging offer of considerable proportions and in constant growth.
