It’s the next boomtown of the Mexican Caribbean with the debut of a brand new state-of-the-art international airport opening in December.
Despite the growing popularity of Tulum as a beach resort destination, two small hotels recently closed in the area due to the lack of tourist bookings.
Two Tulum Hotels Close
As the low season comes to a close in the Mexican Caribbean, with the fall and winter peak travel season right around the corner, two small hotels in the resort town of Tulum called it quits for now.
One hotel will wait a month to reopen while another will sit out two months until the tourist numbers pick up in the area due to the holiday season.
According to the delegate with the labor union that represents the hospitality workers in the area, the two resorts were not even close to 15 percent occupancy before shutting down for the remainder of the slow season.
The union cited the drop in occupancy as dramatic, and drastic measures were needed to accommodate the survival of the properties.
The displaced workers were able to take vacation and other paid time to make up for some of the lost wages.
Not the Normal in Tulum
There are three types of resorts and hotels available in Tulum.
The Riviera Maya is well known for its luxury all-inclusive high-end resorts. Those typically see occupancy levels of 65 to 70 percent in the slow season, according to local experts.
The coastal area includes more local resorts and hotels, and they are usually only 40 percent full in the slow season.
Meanwhile, the city center hotels that are more budget-oriented only see less than a third of the rooms full during the typical slow season in Tulum.
Overall, the city sees an average level of tourist room occupancy of about 50 percent during the slow season.
Local officials say Tulum, which is nearly two hours southwest of Cancun, simply does not have the same tourist draw as Cancun. This is especially the case during the summer low season.
However, that should change with the opening of the new Tulum International Airport in December.
Occupancy Not the Entire Story
A popular saying is that numbers can be used to tell whatever story you like.
The fact is the issue that led to the temporary closing of two hotels in Tulum is deeper than just tourist room occupancy numbers.
It is simply hard for non-luxury hotels to compete with other vacation rentals in Tulum.
There are 9,500 vacation rental properties in Tulum charging an average of $1,117 pesos ($61.84 dollars) per night.
Cancun is a much larger area than Tulum and it only has about 11,000 vacation rental units.
Many tourists opt for the lower priced, and some say more convenient, vacation rental properties instead of the hotels in Tulum. Especially the budget-oriented consumers.
In fact, the vacation rental properties enjoy an average occupancy level of 48 percent in Tulum.
Tips For Travelers
Travelers can typically find better prices during the slow season by opting for vacation rental properties over the local hotels in Tulum.
Those preferring a local hotel property instead in Tulum can actually use the vacation rental pricing to negotiate lower room rates at the local hotels in the area.
This most likely will change in a couple of weeks when the peak fall and winter travel season fills all available rooms and properties in Tulum.
The opening of the airport and the lack of need to travel two hours from Cancun to reach Tulum will also reduce this pricing and demand issue in Tulum.
However, tourists should know that they have choices of accommodation in Tulum and to look at all of the available options to select the type of amenities they prefer along with the prices they can afford when visiting the area.