January 8-14, 2014
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RECORD NUMBER OF NEW YEAR´S EVE PARTY GOERS FOR 2013 BY GEMA GARCÍA
A
ccording to figures released by the government of Solidaridad, approximately 285,000 people saw in the New Year in Playa del Carmen, with most people pouring onto Fifth Avenue and the beach. The culmination of the evening of festivities took place on the beach areas where people gathered to watch the dawn of the New Year, which has become a tradition of the annual celebrations here in Playa. From the beginning of the evening Fifth Avenue started filling up with revelers and movement become almost impossible as restaurants filled up and those without dinner reservations desperately sought a table. The Department of Civil Protection said that at midnight approximately 12,000 people were on 12th Street. and over 25,000 on Fifth Avenue. These figures exceed last years estimated figures by almost 20%, and continue to do so year on year. It is expected these figures will continue to increase annually due to the expansion of Fifth Avenue and the increasing numbers of bars and restaurants in Playa as a whole. The director of the Department of Civil Protection, Yivi Méndez, said that approximately 60,000 people celebrated New Year´s Eve on the beach areas; stretching from the ferry pier to Shangri-La beach on 38th Street. The area at Mamita’s Beach Club was the busiest due to a top name DJ performance that night. 2013 visitor figures were up according to the Touristic Promotion Trust of the Riviera Maya (FPTRM), who estimated over four million visitors came last year, up just over 10% on last year’s
figures. The director of the Department of Tourism of Solidaridad, Clementina del Tejo, said that 2013 has been one of the best years for hotels and restaurants in Playa’s history. The hotel occupancy rate was 79.5% on average throughout December 2013, which was much higher than expected. Del Tejo also said that the hotel occupancy rate in allinclusive and smaller hotels on December 31st reached 95%. Although the economic income in Quintana Roo for 2013 has not been made public yet, the figure from January to August currently stands at around $5,341,000,000 USD, which exceeds the 2012 figure for that time period which was $4,684,000,000 USD.
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Weekly, Year 01, Number 15, 16 Pages