Cancun, Q.R. — On Monday, the first World2Fly flight from Madrid landed at the Cancun International Airport. Cancun mayor Mara Lezama was on site for the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Iberostar inaugural Wolrd2Fly flight.
“We continue to consolidate our destination as one of the favorites in the world, taking care of the health of our people, our visitors and reactivating the economy,” she said.
Lezama said that this new flight reiterates the world’s confidence in the tourist destination and will reinforce air activity with Europe, adding that as of July 11, World2Fly flights from Lisbon to Cancun will be added.
“The world reiterates its preference and knows about the unmatched natural beauty and meticulous quality of the services that we offer to visitors,” she said.
With the opening of direct flights from Spain to Punta Cana and Cancun, the Spanish airline World2Fly expects to mobilize more than 55,000 passengers before the end of the year, as announced by Alejandro Suárez Larrinaga, vice president for the Americas of the company.
At a press event in Cancun and accompanied by Darío Flota Ocampo, director of the Tourism Promotion Council of Quintana Roo, the airline representative pointed out that the progress in the application of vaccines in Spain, and in Europe in general, allows a glimpse of a positive scenario for the tourism industry.
The airline’s first inaugural flight to Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic, and this Monday to Cancun, have been very well received by tourists seeking sun and beach destinations, he said.
He said at the moment, and depending on demand, they are planning a flight to Cancun from Lisbon and from Madrid several days a week.
“These are undoubtedly difficult times, but there is no doubt that in these times great opportunities also arise,” he stressed adding that the airline belonging to the Iberostar group has bet “firmly on all Caribbean destinations, especially Cancun.”
The projections of the new Spanish airline aim to mobilize at least 28,500 people to Cancun and 27,000 to Punta Cana, in Dominican Republic.
“We are convinced that Cancun is going to be the spearhead in the recovery of tourism after such a critical year that we have had to live. From our tourist group, we are going to make a great effort to promote this wonderful destination ,” declared Suárez Larrinaga, convinced that 2022 will be the year of almost definitive recovery.
On this maiden flight, where 200 passengers arrived, there are more than 50 travel agents from Spain and Portugal who will visit the main tourist attractions in the region.
The Mexican tourism industry, which contributes 8.7 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), will not fully recover until 2023, according to the estimates of Miguel Torruco, Secretary of Tourism.
Even so, Mexico was the third most visited country in the world in 2020, according to estimates by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), a temporary phenomenon attributed to flexible sanitary measures in the country’s tourist areas.
