by Donald Wood
Last updated: 9:20 AM ET, Wed April 21, 2021
The Mexican government has announced a plan to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to all adult residents of five popular tourism destinations ahead of the busy summer travel period.
According to Mexico News Daily, federal economy minister Tatiana Clouthier spoke with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador about a plan to vaccinate the adult population of five yet-to-be-determined destinations as part of an effort to encourage tourists to visit through the summer.
Clouthier said the destinations would be chosen based on how dependent the local economy is on the tourism industry and its capacity to facilitate an influx of international arrivals. Some of the locations that meet the qualifications include Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta and Cancun.
"I believe that this will be fundamental as one of the initial measures [to reactivate tourism]," Clouthier said. "The president thought it was a very good idea, and we are [currently] determining what the five destinations will be."
The federal economy minister also said the government is focusing more heavily on ecotourism during the relaunch as more are seeking nature-oriented vacations due to the pandemic.
As part of the proposal, Clouthier and other officials are advocating for an increase in direct flights to the most popular airports to avoid the need for tourists to use connecting services before reaching their final destination.
Mexico is already reporting a surge in American travelers as the widespread coronavirus vaccination program has kicked into high gear. Officials said the number of flights scheduled between the two countries for this summer is up six percent from 2019.
The report comes just hours after the U.S. State Department issued a Level 4 travel advisory for Mexico on Tuesday, advising Americans to avoid travel to the popular vacation destination due to the risk of COVID-19.
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