Hotel occupancy in Tijuana drops 5%

Tijuana’s hotel occupancy fell by about five percentage points in March after violence-related incidents triggered reservation cancellations. (elimparcial.com) The drop followed a stronger start to 2026. Federal Tourism Secretariat data cited by the Northwest Hotels Association put Tijuana at 56.4% occupancy in January and 63.8% in February, before March slipped to an estimated level below 58.8%. (elimparcial.com) Antonio Rico Casillas, president of the Asociación de Hoteles del Noroeste, said national security incidents caused some guests to cancel and briefly slowed new bookings near the end of the first quarter. N+ Tijuana reported similar complaints from business owners in mid-March, while tourism officials said they did not see a generalized collapse and expected Easter travel to help. (elimparcial.com) (nmas.com.mx) Hotels in Tijuana rely on a mixed base of demand, not just vacationers. Rico Casillas said weekend guests often come from California, while weekday demand is supported by medical tourism, business travel and conventions. (elimparcial.com) That mix has become more important because security concerns were already weighing on the market before this spring. Banco de México interviews summarized by AFN said travel alerts, road closures, event cancellations and persistent insecurity in northern Mexico had been hurting leisure and business travel. (afntijuana.info) The sector had entered 2026 with better recent numbers than a year earlier. AFN, citing Datatur, reported in January that Tijuana’s hotel occupancy averaged 67.1% from January through November 2025, up from 65.3% in the same period of 2024. (afntijuana.info) Rico Casillas said bookings have started to stabilize again in recent weeks, and hoteliers are looking to summer for a firmer recovery. He also said the 2026 World Cup is not expected to lift hotel occupancy much in Tijuana because the city will not host matches or team camps. (elimparcial.com) (esquina32.info)