Quintana Roo’s hoteliers and authorities work together to face a massive arrival of sargassum in the 2024 season.
“Some hotels have up to 300 employees ready to collect sargassum, depending on the resort’s size, because there are some with very large beach fronts. However, if sargacero vessels are put in operation, collection will be much easier. They have worked,” said Jesús Almaguer Salazar, President of the Hotel Association of Cancun, Puerto Morelos and Isla Mujeres.
Resorts managers have also spoken to authorities regarding the ocean barriers to prevent the seaweed from washing ashore.
“We have been talking for months with the Naval Region Admiral, and thanks to that, anti-sargassum barriers are being placed from Puerto Morelos to Mahahual… These barriers significantly reduce the arrival to the beach,” Almaguer stated.
Some of the most popular beaches in Quintana Roo are installing up to 8,600 meters of anti-sargassum barriers. This reinforces the labor of 22 small boats, an ocean vessel, four beach sweepers, 11 algae collectors, and eight amphibious bands to control sargassum in 2024, according to REPORTUR.mx.
For its part, the Secretary of Navy (Semar) has 22 smaller vessels ready to support the “Natans” ship operations, according to El Heraldo.
Hoteliers are also lobbying for the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) to rethink the type of population the state houses so the national government allocates more funds for the particular issues this region has, sargassum, for instance.
Meanwhile, due to low temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean, sargassum season in Quintana Roo started several weeks later than usual.
So far, the most affected beaches include Playa del Carmen, Sian Ka’an, Cozumel, Tulum, and some coasts between Cancun and Puerto Morelos.
But it doesn’t mean these beaches are dirty all day long. Authorities work unstoppably to clean them as soon as possible.
For the time being, tourism projections have been positive and hoteliers expect figures to continue growing during the rest of the year.
“We had a very good (Easter) season. That serves as a base for the rest of the year. It is very important to have passed Holy Week without serious incidents,. We all know that it is complicated because there is a lot of land tourism. But we are very happy. We are having good results and we hope to continue like this,” Almaguer stated.