THE Mexican resort of Cancun was presented with the New Frontiers Award 2007 at this year’s WTM for ‘outstanding resilience and positive contribution to tourism development in the wake of Hurricane Wilma’.
The award was announced at ATM, sister exhibition to World Travel Market in May. Tom Nutley, chairman, Reed Travel Exhibitions, said “With considerable support from local state and federal government and international aid agencies such as the Red Cross, but mainly the local residents of Cancun made an indelible impact on Cancun’s recovery and tourism development through the investment of the private sector.
“Together they have now managed to rebuild the battered coastline, improved its shattered local economy, and now tourism numbers are once again approaching levels not seen since before Wilma.”
Besides a commemorative crystal trophy, Cancun has also received $10,000 worth of complimentary exhibition space at ATM 2008 in Dubai.
In October 2005, category 4 Wilma slammed into Mexico’s Yucatلn Peninsula. The hurricane is said to have cost Cancun and the local tourism industry over $15 million daily. The Mexican government paid more than $20 million to dredge offshore sand and pump it back to resorts. In less than a year, out of a total of 27,500 rooms, more than 24,500 were fully renewed.