Latin America
Orient-Express property Maroma is based around a coconut plantation that stretches down to a white sand beach
BAck in Cancun B
In one of the most eagerly-awaited route launches of the year, British Airways returned to Cancun last week after nine years. Gary Noakes joins the inaugural flight and visits some of the top hotels
est known for the raucous spring break vacationers from the US and the huge all-inclusive hotels filled by UK charters, Cancun and the surrounding area has something of an image problem.
This year, however, should see the start of repairs to that image with the return of a British Airways scheduled service to Cancun and with it, a new focus on upmarket business.
For every vast all-inclusive hotel, there are many small, exclusive properties in nearby areas that have gone relatively unnoticed by the UK market due to the destination being
served only by charter flights for almost the past decade.
BA’s head of leisure sales Simon Brooks is convinced the time is right for the airline’s return. “It has absolutely changed,” he says. “I first went there 15 years ago and stayed in a motel. It is different now. There are the big chain hotels, but also the boutique properties. The breadth of hotel offering is as good as you will find in any of the established resorts.”
The area has seen heavy investment following the damage caused by Hurricane Wilma in 2005. “In Cancun, over the past five years, the quality of the product has
come on in leaps and bounds. The early booking profile for World Traveller Plus and Club World rivals that of the Maldives. We’re delighted with it,” Brooks says. BA hopes that areas such as Puerto More- los, which has a large number of boutique properties, will attract premium travellers. “People have to realise that areas like this are also part of Cancun,” says Jorge Vignet, the Cancun Convention & Visitors Bureau promotion director. “The problem we have had with a lot of tour operators is that they see Cancun as it was many years ago.”
LUXURY.HIGHLIGHTS. Maroma Resort and Spa
Orient-Express’s 65-room property is about an hour from Cancun airport and based around a hacienda in a coconut plantation that stretches down to a white sand beach. Mayan craftsmen built additional rooms using traditional methods and Tony Blair
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