By José Antonio Perez and Shandra Keesecker-Rivero
The arrival of over 100,000 visitors to Puerto Peñasco during the weeks of Semana Santa and Semana de Pascua (known as Holy Week and Easter Week), reconfirms the present trend of at least a 5% increase to lodging occupancy in the city so far for 2017, noted Convention and Visitors Bureau President Héctor Vázquez del Mercado. Despite issues with the city’s water supply early in the first holiday week, hotels, rental homes, and other lodging facilities reported an average 97% occupancy rate overall with many hotels at 100%.
Vázquez del Mercado noted tourism to Puerto Peñasco during Semana Santa is principally from the states of Chihuahua, Baja California, and Sonora, as well as from the U.S., noting the largest concentrations of people could be seen in the malecón, calle 13, Playa Hermosa, competition hill in La Cholla, and other recreational sites.
With the city’s population more than doubling over the holiday period, this year’s Semana Santa sadly did have some fatalities to report including one person from a single car accident, a young girl succumbing to injuries sustained after being hit by a vehicle participating in unauthorized car races at the former airport strip, and a man who passed away after falling into the Elegante crater of the Pinacate Biosphere Reserve. This becomes only the second such case at the Elegante crater since 1990.