Cancun and Riviera Maya hotels are noticing an increase in Canadian travel reservations after the country relaxed its covid rules. In February, the Canadian government announced a relaxation in travel rules due to the covid-19 pandemic.

Ernest Ponette, operations manager of Riu said that they are already receiving a greater number of Canadians since they no longer have to present their Covid-19 PCR test when traveling. With this, he says, the Canadian market will begin to recover.

“Since February 28, Canada began to relax the restrictions on those who leave the country, which is positive since with the change, more Canadians can go on vacation. We are beginning to see that they are already reserving more for this month,” he explained.

Canadian tourism was the second most important before the pandemic, only below that of the United States, but the tight and costly restrictions kept many at home.

“A first stage of tourism was lost, but now we hope that some of this market can be recovered,” he added.

Jesús Almaguer Salazar, president of the Cancun, Puerto Morelos and Isla Mujeres Hotel Association said that the strong season for Canadian tourism is during the first three months of the year. He says this us normally when Canadians arrive to take refuge from the cold, but this year, they still haven’t managed to recover 100 percent of that Canadian market.

“Less market has arrived due to the restrictions that the government maintains, but it has not stopped traveling,” he commented.

In 2019, more than a million Canadian visitors arrived, however, in 2020 only 475,000 managed a Cancun vacation.

As of February 28, the Canadian government eased restrictions regarding fully vaccinated visitors. Previously, all visitors had to present a negative PCR test within 72 hours of flying or landing in the country.

Now, vaccinated visitors can show proof of an antigen test from the day before their scheduled flight. Random tests are also being administered in airports. Unvaccinated travellers are still be required to take a covid-19 test upon arrival, quarantine for 14 days, then take a second covid-19 test on day 8 of their quarantine.