5 Measures Against Covid-19

The official arrival of the coronavirus in the State of Quintana Roo was on March 13th, 2020. It was precisely on this date that the Ministry of Health in the state determined the detection of the first asymptomatic patient.

After Covid-19 was identified in the region, tourism stopped. However, since June 2020, the state of Quintana Roo reopened its doors to tourists. All those involved in tourism have made their best effort to guarantee the safety of tourists in the Riviera Maya.

Since then, more than 60,000 positive cases have been detected in the entity and around 4,100 deaths. To take a look to all the covid stats and tracking in the region, click on this link.

By June 2020, the state government allowed the restart of operations in the face of a favorable scenario in the control of infections and through the implementation of drastic sanitary measures to guarantee the safety of tourist.

The hotels opened their doors again and the airport traffic began to reactivate. Little by little, the crowds of tourists who had disappeared earlier in the year from the beaches in Cancun went back.

Tourists from all over the world came to Cancun to find an oasis of fun, relaxation and amazing landscapes in the midst of this pandemic knowing that they were going to be safe. Some decided to come for a few days, some for a few weeks. Either way, the Mexican Caribbean was back to life in the next months after being totally shut down.

The reactivation of these tourist destinations has been a mixture of the efforts of the government, businessmen, entrepreneurs and the local population, which depends heavily on tourism as its main economic activity. The priority of these efforts is to ensure that moving forward there will always be a safe environment in Cancun and the Riviera Maya, one aimed to be free of COVID-19 infections in order to strengthen the confidence of tourists in these destinations.

The priority in Cancun and the Riviera Maya is to make tourists feel safe and confident so they can enjoy their trip safely.

What measures have been taken to guarantee the safety of travelers to the destination of Cancun and the Riviera Maya?

To make this possible, the measures that the government, businessmen and population have taken are the following:

1. Wearing a face mask. The staff in hotels, restaurants and other tourist service provider are committed to wearing a mask not only during the working day, but during all their activities outside home. It is important to say that there is not a facemask mandate in these destinations, but most people try to comply with this measure.

Wearing a mask starts from the moment of boarding the plane. Regardless of where the plane departs, the general rule in airlines is the mandatory use of a mask during the flight. It is important to mention that for most of the tourists flying back from Cancun, the PCR test is required to re-enter their countries. At Cancun’s airport, tourists are also asked to fill out an online questionnaire to improve passenger traceability. Every aircraft is disinfected at the airport and there is continuous distribution of gel by flight personnel.

The people in Cancun and the Riviera Maya have adapted their daily activities to include masks as an essential part of their routine. In hotels, you will find bellboys, chauffeurs, reception staff, waiters and even managers with their faces covered. In restaurants, the panorama is not different, as well as in all transportation and tour activities.

2. Body temperature measurement and use of disinfection processes for all the staff involved in tourism activities. Undoubtedly, hotels and other tourism service providers know that the most important measures to preserve a safe environment involved their staff.

Therefore, every day, at the start of the staff shift, companies (hotels, restaurants, tour operators, etc.) do a fast health check to all their employees. This usually includes measuring body temperature, as well as filling out a symptom questionnaire by each staff member. In the event that any collaborator shows any signs of contagion, they are not admitted to work and are sent back home for a more exhaustive medical examination.

3. Automation of check-in process. If by now, the companies providing tourist services have not yet adopted technological tools that will facilitate remote check-in, the safety measure of avoiding queues or other crowds of people has forced them to adopt them.

In an effort to automate more processes and avoid contact among people, more and more tourism companies in Cancun and the Riviera Maya are implementing technological solutions.

It is likely that after the COVID-19 pandemic, tourist service providers in destinations like Cancun and Riviera Maya will adopt more advanced technologies to transform into smart destinations. It won’t be strange to see artificial intelligence getting more involved and play a bigger role.

4. Proliferation of disinfectant use and sanitization processes. Disinfectant gel dispensers have become part of the regular equipment in all tourist establishments. It has practically become a company policy.

The use of mats in the main entrances to offices, hotels and other facilities has also become common.

In addition, it is common to see videos on the screens of hotels and transportation companies to show the disinfection processes that are meticulously done in rooms and inside vehicles.

Local authorities have ensured that 5,000 companies in Quintana Roo have been certified in health security actions. In addition to the fact that Cancun and the Mexican Caribbean received the Global Security seal awarded by the World Travel and Tourism Council. This is the first seal awarded in Latin America.

Today more than ever, there is an emphasis on showing that facilities and equipment are totally clean ensuring that they are not a source of infection.

5. Social distancing. Until further notice from the Mexican government, social distancing continues to be one of the pillars of security. In Cancun and the Riviera Maya, it is not different.

To reinforce it, hotels and restaurants can operate at a maximum of 80% of their capacity. Parks like Xcaret are doing it at 50%. Many of the tour operators are offering private services replacing the collective modality.

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It is through these measures that tourism companies in the State of Quintana Roo seek to guarantee the safety of their clients in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.