Tourism Observations

We are on Playa la Ropa pretty much every day from 6am to 9am. We really watch and observe because it's fun.

There aren't many tourists on la Ropa, at least yet. Villa Mexicana doesn't appear to have many guests, unless they aren't using the beach loungers. Same for The Thompson and Embarc. Yes, there are people, but not what we have seen in the past post COVID years.

Had breakfast at Daniel's on playa principal this morning about 10am. Absolutely my personal favorite for the quality of the food, the service, and OMG the location. By the time we had a leisurely breakfast, there was one other table filled.

The beach? Absolutely packed!!! Saw a wonderful white dog that self entertained, chasing birds and swimming. Seriously swimming. Went out to check a swimmer passing by. What a good guy.

So, are the international tourist hotels going to pick up? Sure hope so. This is our home and we want everyone to flourish.

Anyone have a good crystal ball??

I'm constantly seeing (and answering) questions on social media about the beaches and what is allowed. The Blue Flag rules and the practically forced use of expensive restaurants because of those rules is more of a deterrent than an attraction. So the party is on the downtown beach where there's no Blue Flag. But, as if to phonily try to prove their point, the ayuntamiento only puts one old couple to clean the downtown beach, and even on an easy day they do a poor job. The city government knows they do a poor job because it's been brought to their attention over and over, and they have personnel constantly taking photos. Lots of neighbors try to help out, but right now it's simply overwhelming, and it's downright sad the city government doesn't put more people to clean the downtown beach and walkway at this time of year.

According to SECTUR Guerrero's cifras alegres, the hotels in Acapulco, Ixtapa AND Zihuatanejo were all above 70% occupancy. While that may be true of the hotels they count, it doesn't reflect the true number of hotels, cost of the hotels, the purchasing power of the tourist or how much money they spend on average, though they'll also put out a statistic after the vacation season declaring that amount, a statistic many of us will laugh at and wonder why we aren't all millionaires by now.

Our municipal and state governments's tourism departments mostly just simulate their jobs and try to take credit for things they don't do.

One thing they claim to be doing is interviewing tourists to see what they want. Another waste of time. The national tourists will tell them they want "los 3 Bs": Bueno, Bonito y Barato. I know what they want because they tell me, and I also have a pretty good idea of some things they could use such as free and plentiful public restrooms so they aren't peeing and crapping all over the place like they are now. I also think more conveniently located trash receptacles would be a big help as well as better public transportation with maps showing the routes for local combis (since we don't use buses anymore). Not unlike what they are accustomed to in the cities where most of our visitors come from. Secure parking for all the folks who drive here would be nice. Lots of vehicles get stolen and broken into at this time of year. The most common thing folks want is PUBLIC SECURITY, and that's pretty much nationwide, but they think it must come from the federal government: a near impossible task because the safety and security of a community begins with a LOCAL PROFESSIONAL police force that knows the local area, something we've never had here in Mexico. The nation's justice system was created over decades by people who wanted to get away with their own crimes, and we still have a ways to go to overhaul it and come up with a working justice system. What we currently have is over 99% of all crimes going unpunished.

The flights are coming, but it seems like more and more of their passengers are staying in places like Troncones, La Salidita, Playa Blanca and places that are affordable without all the elitist beach rules.