Desolation and sadness on the beaches of Acapulco, without tourism and devastated by the passage of Hurricane Otis

The sadness over the lack of tourism It takes hold of the inhabitants of the Mexican beaches of Acapulco, where commercial activities remain closed after almost two months of Hurricane Otis despite President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s announcement of the opening of almost 130 hotels.

The desolation is illustrated by Pie de la Cuesta beach, in the western area of ​​Acapulco, one of the most important tourist destinations in southeastern Mexico, where the scarcity of visitors makes the December holidays bitter, which are usually one of the most important moments of the year.

López Obrador promised to “get Acapulco back on its feet” by Christmas, but restaurateur Juan Manuel Vilchis, one of those affected by the sandbar, assured EFE that you won’t be able to “build” your business because the damage is serious and latent, so we will wait until January to start the renovation.

“I personally won’t lift it because I don’t have enough to do it, I’ve lost everything, you’ve already seen my columns, they don’t hold up, I put up this temporary sheet,” he explained.

Renting two rooms to two Canadian friends is what now supports their business, 800 dollars a month which becomes his only incomewhile from December 26th it will rent the remaining furniture.

“I will rent chairs and tables, I will sell drinks. We don’t even have coconuts, (only) beer, soda. There will be no kitchen service to offer dishes, but our income will be minimal,” he commented.

A disaster that never ends

The disaster continues almost two months after the impact of Hurricane Otis, which made landfall on October 25 as a category 5 in the southern state of Guerrero, where it caused 52 deaths and broke the record for the intensification of a cyclone in the country.

During a visit to Acapulco, the most damaged city, López Obrador reported on Wednesday the availability of 4,534 rooms in 127 hotels.

But in Pie de la Cuesta there are 16 hotels and more than 50 restaurants where the damage was severe and not all will reopen, as the authorities have indicated that seven businesses are ready to receive tourism, albeit at 50% of their usual capacity.

Fabiola Hernández Cedeño, a waitress at a hotel at the entrance to the town, said “there is a lot of work” in the shops due to reconstruction work, but the number of tourists and the influx of visitors is minimal.

“There is a lot of work for all the repairs more than anything, there is a lot of dust, still lots of debris nearby, you have to maintain the rooms. It makes me sad because it’s hard because from there you survive, from there you survive,” she explained.

Tourism is urgent in Acapulco

The president of the Union of Entrepreneurs of the Pie de la Cuesta Tourist Zone, María Nelly Mejía, declared last weekend that all the reservations they had had been canceled because tourists believe that in Acapulco they continue with “a lot of problems”.

“We didn’t stop after the hurricane, we are a family business here, we are all working hard and putting on all the weight to carry on this and the season, but the bad thing is that tourism isn’t coming,” he said. indicated.

For this reason, a campaign to attract visitors is deemed necessary.

“Even if bookings start again for the period after 25 and 26 Decemberwe have set aside 40%.“This motivates us even more to keep working hard to finish and get this result 100% ready,” he added.

At the entrance to commercial establishments, employees carry out cleaning work, repair walls, install air conditioners, paint, build cabins, roofs or rooms.

“To make the tourist want to come, maybe some colleagues are preparing dinners for Christmas, the end of year party and maybe with the announcement of the fireworks they will come to Pie de la Cuesta and so we can make offers and anticipate this season “Mejia said.

For tourism service providers, another hope for the last days of 2023 is organize various social eventsweddings, fifteen years and baptisms, because they say they are ready for the holidays after overcoming the tragedy.

EFE Agency