Acapulco tourism has suffered over the last few years as sparkling newer resort destinations have grown up and continued to modernize. Once the jewel of Mexico's resort cities, Acapulco has fallen into disrepair despite its location on one of the country's most beautiful bays.
However, plans are to reinvigorate the destination, says the Boston Herald.
"Grupo Autofin, already a strong tourism-industry presence here, announced plans this summer to invest $1 billion in new construction and upgrades along the Pacific coastline well south of the heart of the city and its famous bay. Included are high-end hotels, renovation of its 6,000-room Princess Hotel, a golf course, eco-park and other stuff," reports Alan Solomon.
While tourism has drifted south, past the airport, this investment looks to boost tourism in the city.
"What impact that billion dollars will have on the magical Acapulco - the one with the magnificent bay whose hills have sparkled so romantically at night since the Eisenhower administration - we probably won't know until 2022, Groupo Autofin's target date for completion," notes Solomon.
Now is the time for a facelift as tourism numbers among non-Mexican travelers have dipped to historically low levels.
"The numbers are astonishing. Of the 8 million tourists who came to Acapulco in 2005, 340,000 were international, primarily from the United States - a serious drop from earlier decades but only a hint of what was to come. In 2014, nearly 9 million visitors came here; of those 9 million, the number of international tourists was ... 50,848. The rest were well-off Mexican nationals, largely from Mexico City," Solomon reports.
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While it's true that foreign visitors currently prefer the newer resort destinations of Cancun, Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta, part of Acapulco's problem also stems from drug violence. Officials say that these are not problems for tourists but it doesn't help that a U.S. State Department issued a travel advisory to Acapulco that is still in force today.
There are definitely problems in the region, but with an infusion of cash from Autofin, the future does look brighter.
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