With an eye on the 2020 Tianguis Turístico, the major trade and tourism event in Mexico that due to the pandemic went virtual, the Yucatan Siglo XXI Convention and Exhibition Center had to expand. The building, that evokes the intricacies of Mayan architecture, expanded from 32,800 square feet to 75,500 square feet.
Located north of Yucatan’s capital city, Mérida in Mexico, 15 minutes from the international airport and 20 minutes from the historic center, the venue is set at the heart of an area of no more than 6.2 miles with 5,000 hotel rooms, shopping centers, restaurants, archaeological sites, cenotes, golf courses and museums.
Among its upgrades are mobile walls with thermal and sound insulation, which will allow moving from rooms of different sizes to large corridors. Also, a high-capacity electrical system was installed to meet the needs for macro-events, as well as a robust voice and data network, to meet first-class space and facilities.
With the expansion work, the Yucatán Siglo XXI Convention and Exhibition Center and, adding its area to the International Congress Center (CIC); the combined spaces are now the seventh largest in Mexico.
In other Mexico news, United Airlines will resume its Houston (HOU) to Merida (MID) route as of Dec. 1, with four weekly flights and a possible increase to daily flights on Dec. 17 for the holiday season. This means about 166 available seats, with a possible 2,490 by the end of 2020. Currently, the route is confirmed until the first quarter of 2021, subject to changes that may arise due to COVID-19.
This is the second route connecting the U.S. with the Mexican destination. American Airlines reactivated its Miami- Merida route on Oct. 8, increasing frequencies to daily flights as of Nov. 4.
The state of Yucatan started the gradual recovery of its air frequencies beginning June 11 as part of the economic reactivation of the state. Among national routes with increased frequencies are flights by various carriers between Merida and Mexico City, Guadalajara, Veracruz, Tijuana, Tuxtla, Monterrey and Cancun.
The state’s Ministry of Tourism has been working on the reactivation of flights to Merida’s international airport, reporting a considerable increase in the number of frequencies each month since June. This has resulted in nine national and two international routes, representing 18,089 seats available on 121 flights, which is equivalent to 54.1 percent recovery of the weekly seat offer to the state of Yucatan, compared to the data recorded up to February of this year, prior to COVID-19.
From March 24 to Oct. 27 of this year, arriving flights at Merida’s international airport registered an average occupancy of 45.9 percent, which means a recovery of 33.4 percentage points in this indicator, registered during the last seven months of the year.
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