Recovery in Cozumel slow in coming.. but coming!!
 Recovery Still Seems Distant
The economic recovery of Cozumel after the flu scare warning has been more talk than what is reality. In fact, the week that begins this Monday will be noted as the true reactivation of the main market for the local tourism that are the cruisers and the little thing that up to now has advanced, has been in its greater part for the large consortiums and wholesale businesses of "tour operators".
The sector that has been seen immediate improvement with the return of the cruise passengers has been that of the "tours" in the island and other points that are hired from the ships and they have a relatively secure market.
The others, have had noted there are still scarce tourists and potential clients, who besides arrive from a country as United States, that also passes through a financial crisis, which reflects itself in the modest level of funds the tourists spend in the island.
Among the most affected still are the independent boatmen of the island, who even in a good year, barely attend to five percent or the tourists.
Their main clients are those passengers of cruiser that not having hired any excursion on board, but already in the island they are encouraged to hire some tour; generally to do "snorkel".
Another market are the tourists that arrive in ferry from the Riviera Maya, but both sources of tourists are right now limited because the cruise passengers that have arrived since the end of the warning –around 15 thousand– are not sufficient for all and in spite of the fact that the flu warning measures have been lifted, the ships that join the island with Playa del Carmen, continue arriving each two hours and with less tourists still below the "normal level" of activities.
Another sector that not yet is recovered are the merchants of the tourist zone of the city, for whom also too few tourists that have arrived up to now.
Although not an official calculation exists, the merchants speculate that of ten cruise passengers that pass to its business, perhaps one of them makes a purchase and that is generally modest.
The great proliferation of business that basically sell the same thing (the same jewels, the same t-shirts or the same crafts); wagered to the great quantity of tourists that disembark in the island, between 40 thousand and 60 thousand people depending on the season, in normal conditions.
Nevertheless, in all the month that already is known as "Black May", little more than eight thousand tourists arrived and in what goes of June only a few thousand more has arrived.
This shortage that is counted in the thousands has placed the business plan of many merchants and service providers in crisis.
The hope is that the things be normalized beginning this week, nevertheless, in the commercial sector and of services already many jobs have been lost, some of which do not appear in any registration because they were commission workers
Other businesses have closed or changed locations in these hard times: Right now there are various empty locals on Avenue Rafael Melgar.
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