By Carola Rico
Francisco Aguirre Dávalos is the president of the San Miguel de Allende delegation of Cámara Nacional de la Industria de Restaurantes y Alimentos Condimentados (CANIRAC), the National Chamber of the Restaurant and Condiments Industry. He told this media outlet that the heritage city is experiencing a good economic recovery, reflected by the recent long weekend.
CANIRAC conducted an internal survey of its restaurant members. It revealed that a great number of people visited the city over the long weekend of March 18, a notable difference from the long weekend of February 5. This was most likely due to coordination between entrepreneurs and the municipal government. According to Dávalos, the figures emphasize that revenues are breaking records. “What I want to emphasize is that in San Miguel we are already in a clear economic recovery, we are talking about numbers similar to those of 2020 before the pandemic. Those figures fell apart due to the quarantine, and now, after two long years, we are back on our feet,” he said.
Dávalos explained that the large number of the visitors, all of whom are considered high end, filled SMA’s restaurants and consumed significant amounts. San Miguel offers a variety of culinary possibilities, but many restaurants suffered during the pandemic for lack of clients. Fortunately, during that period only one of SMA’s 580 restaurants closed.
With the upcoming vacations, tourism service providers are coordinating with the health authorities to offer visitors quality options for enjoying themselves. For Dávalos, it is key that visitors feel safe, so sanitary measures, including staff and clients wearing a mask, taking clients’ temperature, and providing antibacterial gel will remain in force indefinitely. SMA’s terraces and open-air spaces are ideal for respecting sanitary measures.
As for nightclubs, Dávalos commented that measures have been relaxed a bit more, but this reflects what is happening at the national level.
The food and beverage industry has received significant support from the municipal and state government. The latter granted soft loans, of which almost 90% of restaurant owners in SMA have taken advantage. There is good communication at the local level between businessmen and the mayor, Dávalos asserts, and this has facilitated the economic recovery.
Currently, of the 580 restaurants registered in SMA, 160 belong to CANIRAC. Since Dávalos took over the presidency of the organization, membership has grown more than 100%; a year ago, there were only 60 members. The goal for 2022 is to reach 200 members in order to consolidate the Chamber and make it stronger.
Culinary festivals took place in SMA before the pandemic. Dávalos explained that thanks to the green health traffic light, some events have again been authorized. Local chefs affiliated with the Chamber will participate in these activities, though the date has yet to be announced. “We are going to start working from the inside out, not from the outside in, not as it was done under other administrations. The Chamber wants to explore ideas with the member chefs, with the people who work in restaurants and who are prominent in the field,” commented Dávalos. He added that residents live in safety in the heritage city, and that the city is being well cared for by the authorities, businessmen, and civil society.
Tourism promotion and the strategies implemented by the municipal government have begun to bear fruit; records for hotel occupancy and restaurant consumption were broken during the recent long weekend. On Saturday, March 19, SMA hotels almost reached maximum capacity, with 99.98 percent occupancy. This was the strongest day for reception of visitors in the city’s hotels since before the pandemic, with an expenditure of about 33.4 million pesos. The spill-over benefited the entire municipal tourism industry, with an average daily expenditure of 2,134 pesos per visitor.
Another important point for the government was that a “clear balance” was recorded in terms of security. Over the recent long weekend, municipal forces, coordinating with other security entities, preserved public order and peace among residents and visitors.
