When Guatemala Borders open, there will be no Tourists

When Guatemala Borders open, then what, there will be no Tourists coming. The realities we all need to face, the COVID-19 Virus impact has shut down Tourism to Guatemala for months.

Each week with great anticipation, we wait for the Guatemala President messages about opening the country for business. Opening the country for business is about local business not opening Borders and Tourism.

If you own a Hotel, Resort or Spa around Lake Atitlan or Antigua you are facing very hard times. The closure of Camino Real Hotels is the sign of the future of Tourism in Guatemala; more will follow over the next few months.

HOTEL ROAD REAL CLOSES
About 800 people left unemployed. ” we are facing an unprecedented situation, the impact of the COVID19 pandemic has had on our business turn, forcing us to make the difficult decision to temporarily suspend our operations says the manager through a statement. The Royal Road Corporation has hotels in six strategic locations in the country such as Guatemala City, Antigua Guatemala, and Petén.

Tourism on a global scale affected, unemployment, and businesses closed permanently, travel between countries restricted, and airlines in financial crisis all affect Tourism. In 2020, the US estimates 20 million will lose their jobs in the Travel sector.  All of these facts influence travel and tourism to Guatemala.

Guatemala Borders Open

At the end of April on Facebook, many Hostels, Hotels, and Resorts around Lake Atitlan and Antigua started offering rooms and shared accommodations in an attempt to generate income to keep the properties operating. However, rates remain high considering the situation we all find ourselves. Rates Tourists would pay, not locals.

January 1, 2020, when I last checked 290 Hotels, Spas and Resorts operated in the Lake Atitlan region, and 300 Airbnb’s. Last year Airbnb was estimated to be worth more than US$30bn. It was scheduled to go public in 2020. Then came the Covid-19 pandemic

When Guatemala Borders Open. We are all facing the need to change and find new sources of income while we wait for the Tourism of some form to return to Guatemala. Many, unless they change, will not survive.