Following a nearly 60% drop in collection of the 2% lodging tax last year to help promote tourism to the area, the local Convention and Visitors Bureau (OCV) notes an increase both in tourism as well as promotional funds collected in 2021.
OCV president Héctor Vázquez del Mercado detailed a notable increase in the first quarter of 2021, which they estimate to be 80% of that collected in 2019.
Funds from the 2% lodging tax, which first must go through the State Secretary of Finance, are put toward promoting Puerto Peñasco both nationally and abroad. Based on numbers from this year so far, the Convention and Visitors Bureau is optimistic and plans to put at least 5 million pesos into promotional campaigns for the area. These campaigns are aimed at the main markets that visit Puerto Peñasco.
Vázquez del Mercado expressed when Puerto Peñasco’s tourist influx went down by almost 60% in 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there was also a sharp decrease in resources channeled into promoting the tourist destination. This drop meant going from an investment of 9 million pesos to barely 4 million.
However, he highlighted, OCV staff managed and creatively came up with ways to do more with less in order to continue promoting Puerto Peñasco as an attractive place to visit. Puerto Peñasco itself is classified as a Safe Point, due to health and safety protocols established during the pandemic.
