Cruise Line Job Guide Blog

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Mariachi bands with fold dances and a raffle for a free vacation for a lucky couple welcomed the first cruise ship to dock at Cozumel after more than a month of no visits due to the swine flu scare. Tourist destinations in Mexico including popular resorts off the coast of Yucatan Peninsula, Cozumel and other cities are now starting to get life again as the flu crisis is over.

Albert Marrufo, director of the island’s tourism department excitingly says “Imagine how we feel, we are all anxious to welcome them back” as the ship in Cozumel brings 2400 passengers and adds “We live 100 percent either directly or indirectly from tourism.”

There were a great number of cruise ships and even air lines that canceled their stops or travel to Mexico as it was the center of the world wide influenza A (H1N1) crisis. Beach resorts, port stalls and stores and many people living on tourism activities has lost jobs and money on the way.

Mexican officials has estimated that if things doesn’t turn around for them, since the epidemic hit the economy early in April, an amount of $4 billion maybe lost from tourism. 85% of the industries income comes from Mexican tourists. Officials are now calling on hotels, airlines, hotspot destinations and restaurants to offer special packages or discounts to attract people back to their tourist destinations.

Some hotels and restaurants has slashed rates and services up to 50 percent and some even more to adjust to this problem as millions of Mexicans has already lost their jobs. Though, airline prices are still increasing due to planes were taken out of the circulation during the downtime.

President Felipe Calderon launched a $90 million effort to promote summer travel and announces that “millions of families in the whole country live from tourism…. these hard-working, honest and struggling people are passing through a difficult moment.”

“Today we are going to begin a grand movement to reactivate our tourism industry. This means that each family decides to travel and chooses a destination in Mexico.”

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