Whether it’s having the most luxury rooms per square feet of any destination in Mexico, its culinary prowess, its championship golf courses or even that it’s home to Mexico’s only international private airport (read: private jets), Los Cabos knows how to deliver on luxury experiences.
When we spoke with Rodrigo Esponda, managing director for Los Cabos Tourism Board, at last month’s Virtuoso Travel Week, he mentioned that the destination embraces its luxury side, and, in fact, 13 percent of visitors to Los Cabos in June 2021 reported a $200K+ annual income, showing a slight increase to pre-pandemic levels with 12 percent in June 2019, according to Los Cabos’ exit survey.
It’s estimated that the average trip to Los Cabos in October 2021 will run $2,114 for a U.S. flight and 3-night lodging—that’s 51 percent more than Mexico’s other top travel destinations, as per the tourism board. One of the newest resorts you can recommend those clients ready to book a fall trip to Los Cabos is the Villa La Valencia Beach Resort & Spa Los Cabos, set to swing open its doors next month.
Speaking of new hotels set to dot the Los Cabos landscape in the coming years: St. Regis Los Cabos at Quivira (fall 2022); a second Four Seasons Resort and Residences Cabo San Lucas at Cabo del Sol (late 2023); Park Hyatt (2023) and Amanvari (2024).
Beyond those luxury accommodations, though, is a world of experiences that will have your clients coming back to the destination for seconds. As Esponda says, the destination has everything—wellness (think sunrise yoga on the Sea of Cortez), golf, romance, cuisine (farm-to-table), etc.
Los Cabos—which welcomed 197,000 international visitors in July 2021, a 21 percent growth compared to July 2019—offers several digital guides that will help you navigate the destination’s offerings—among those is one specifically created for travel advisors (visitloscabos.travel/industry/tools). The guide offers information ranging from “who visits Los Cabos” to “luxury hotels & resorts” as well as “insider experiences.”
If luxury travelers were looking for insider experiences pre-pandemic, the inability to travel freely around the globe has spurred them to seek out those hidden gems and memorable experiences even more so. In Los Cabos those insider experiences can take the form of “blamping,” which combines mountain biking and luxury camping; art viewing from a yacht in Puerto Los Cabos; a farm-to-table experience in Miraflores, which includes a blind wine-tasting experience, a 5-course feast and stargazing; or a concert from sea, which involves sailing at sunset on a 64-ft. yacht or Zodiac-type boat to El Arco; there, a hydrophone is submerged into the sea to capture the sounds of courting humpback whales. Then your clients enjoy a 6-course meal created from ingredients sourced from throughout the country. And all of these experiences, noted Esponda, are commissionable.
In terms of luxury accommodations you can book right now, those range from the Cabo Villas Beach Resort and One&Only Palmilla to Esperanza, Auberge Resorts Collection as well as The Cape, A Thompson Hotel and Grand Velas Los Cabos, among others.
Health & Safety
When it comes air travel to Mexico, there is no need to provide a negative PCR test or quarantine on arrival, though most resorts ask guests to fill out health questionnaires. The entire destination adheres to occupancy limits, an 11 PM curfew, social distancing and a face covering or mask mandate for all indoor and outdoor activities.
Note, too, that when we spoke with Esponda in August, he mentioned that 80 percent of the population aged 18+ had been vaccinated or had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
For more information, visit visitloscabos.travel/industry.
