The Guatemalan Tourism Institute (Inguat) estimates that next week an approximate total of 3.3 million trips will be made throughout the country, most of which will be made by internal tourists and 137 thousand will be foreigners. The entity also projects an economic benefit of Q2,636 million.
Among the most requested destinations are Antigua Guatemala, Petén, the beaches of the Pacific, Sololá, farms in Tecpán and Izabal, among others.
The president of the Guatemalan Chamber of Tourism (Camtur), Rolando Schweikert Rozotto, confirmed that the hotels already have reservations almost full and this season, the majority of travelers are nationals.
The type of hotel, transportation service or operator required depends on the family budget, but after the pandemic, many families have decided to rent minibuses to travel together, and sometimes they hire tour operators, he added.
Antigua Guatemala, saturated
Currently, the small and medium-sized hotels grouped in the Association of Tourist Service Providers of Antigua Guatemala (ASOPROTUR) report that in that municipality they have confirmed reservations of up to 95% for Semana Mayor, comments Carlos Ramos, president of the entity.
Therefore, it is recommended to use the social networks of the hotels of your choice to request information about availability and prices.
“It is important to remember that in order to reduce costs, small and medium-sized hotels remove their availability from electronic reservation platforms to carry out price negotiations directly with clients, so it is important to communicate directly with customers. hotels,” he recommended.
Prices for a room with double occupancy can be between Q500 and Q1,500 per night, he added.
“The pandemic was forgotten”
At Irtra (Guatemala Private Company Workers Recreation Institute), reservations in the hostels and Aldea de la Selva are sold from the first week of the year, and at these dates a reserved occupancy of 100% is already reported. said Jorge Mario Chajón, presidential consultant at that entity.
The executive said that an arrival of 325 thousand people is expected for the parks and that there are 800 rooms/night already reserved from Thursday, March 21 to Sunday, March 31, in which it is expected to have about 28 thousand guests.
Travelers begin to arrive on Holy Thursday and the influx remains very high until Holy Saturday (March 31) and on Easter Sunday it is still expected to remain at 80% although many visitors begin their return, he explained.
The area around Irtra also benefits, since the 45 hotels in the area are also full, to which we should add the rest houses, those who stay in the residences of their family or friends, plus the residents who arrive of nearby towns.
The aforementioned estimates are for 2024, with growth of 10% over the previous year, which was the best year in the history of Irtra, he added. “The pandemic was forgotten for Irtra and for those who are happy in the institution’s parks and hostels,” said Chajón.
Guatemagical
Carlos Rezzio, president of the Guatemalan Local Tourism Board, promoted by the Retalhuleu Tourism Association (Asotur), said that the hotels in this tourist region also have 85% to 95% of reservations occupied for the season, and they anticipate this week reach 100%. Therefore, “this Holy Week will have a lot of tourists.”
While Irtra will have two musical events on Thursday and Friday, Tag has announced daily flights starting on Holy Tuesday, aspects that help attract more visits, Rezzio said. In 2023 there were 3 or 4 daily flights to said tourist area.
Operations and estimates
On Friday, March 22, SINAPRESE will be active to cover the entire season with 153 facilities nationwide to meet the needs of travelers during the season.
There will also be 24 camps, and Inguat, apart from its presence at customs and other places, will participate in 8 camps, for which it made available the 1500 call center, 11 tourist assistance delegates and 17 tourist information, as well as participation in caravans called Safe Accompaniment, from March 22 to 31, indicated Byron Arango, head of the Department of Tourist Assistance (Asistur).
Regarding Inguat’s data regarding travelers for Holy Week, José María Aguilar, head of the entity’s Market Research and Analysis Department, explained that: A vehicle count is carried out in a normal period, without being a holiday, in the main tourist destinations and Then the same vehicle count is done in the same destinations during Holy Week, to establish differences.
Additionally, for each type of vehicle, a weighting factor is applied to estimate the number of occupants. Additionally, surveys are carried out in places of public flow in the destinations to determine the incidence of visitors with tourist reasons and place of residence.
And the information is crossed with hotel occupancy to quantify resident visitors (domestic tourism) and non-resident (international) visitors.
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