April 10 marks the official start of Easter holidays for the Mexican Caribbean. State tourism reports the anticipated arrival of more than 1.1 million visitors for the holiday period of April 9 to 24.

On Saturday, Cancun airport’s managing company ASUR (Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste) reported a record 638 flights with 323 arrivals and 315 departures. Of the arriving flights, 232 were international and 91, from national routes.

Those visitors will be distributed throughout various destinations around the state. This year, authorities have pointed out that Riviera Maya has outpaced Cancun with the number of reservations.

Playa del Carmen (Riviera Maya) has captured more than 544,000 of those 1.1 million expected visitors, while Cancun will host just over 349,000. Another 20,000 tourists will be headed south, to the Mahahual region during that same time period. Bacalar has also reported a 50 percent increase in reservations over last year.

Bernardo Cueto Riestra, head of State Tourism, said the figures for this year are significantly more than numbers from the same time last year. He reported that with this increase, many hotels in the north will see a 90 percent occupancy rate, with some even selling out.

“There is a full recovery of our destination,” Cueto said. “There is great confidence in tourists towards our destinations and there is a great responsibility on our part from the Ministry of Tourism to maintain our public policies in the care of tourists and that they feel totally safe,” he explained.

“Quintana Roo is preparing for one of its most important holiday seasons of the year, Easter, with more than 1 million tourists, thus allowing the complete economic reactivation of the state’s tourism sector,” he explained.

He says that the Mexican Caribbean remains a preferred destination for travelers and remains among the top five destinations globally. From April 9 to 24, the state is expecting 1,178,977 tourists.

“As a destination, we are ready,” he said.