Much ado in QRoo
HUANG JENHUNG / SHUTTERSTOCK . COM
Quintana Roo ’ s summer 2021 travel season was one of its best yet in 2021 , exceeding pre-pandemic levels from 2019 . Data reported by Quintana Roo Tourism Promotion Council and the National Migration Institute shows a 38 % increase in U . S . tourists in July 2021 over July 2019 . The average hotel occupancy rate in summer 2021 was 62 % and from July 2020 to July 2021 , 9.3 million visitors came to the state . Of those visitors , almost 3.5 million were from the U . S .
PHUNKOD / SHUTTERSTOCK . COM
COURTESY OF KARISMA HOTELS & RESORTS
MEHANIQ / SHUTTERSTOCK . COM
DRAMATIC INCREASE IN PASSPORT PROCESSING
We don ’ t mean to be dramatic but … passport processing times are incredibly long . A routine passport service request can take up to 18 weeks ( that ’ s 4 1 / 2 months !) and expedited service can take as long as 12 weeks . What ’ s the lesson here ? Plan ahead . And if your clients are really itching to get out of the country , satisfy their travel desire with a trip to a domestic Caribbean destination with no passports required for U . S . citizens , like Puerto Rico or the U . S . Virgin Islands .
CRUISE ON OVER TO SOCIAL MEDIA
Where does a travel advisor find new cruise clients these days ? We asked and you answered . In a recent poll on VAX , 36 % of you told us that joining cruise communities on social media is the main way you ’ ve been finding new cruise clients in 2021 . Thirty-four percent of you are opening your rolodexes — just kidding , no one uses those anymore — your client database and contacting your past cruise clients , and 14 % said you are developing a new cruise referral program .
WINTER 2021 / THE COMPASS / 15