Back to Home > Saturday, Mar 18, 2006 Business email this print this reprint or license this ');... Hoteliers want to refine Ca

Classical music wafts through the Zen-like lobby of Le Blanc Spa Resort, a luxurious hotel where guests are greeted with fresh fruit drinks and a scented, moist towel. It's a far cry from what some may consider to be a typical Cancun hotel - teeming with the hollering, drunken U.S. college students who helped turn this Caribbean resort into Mexico's No. 1 foreign-tourist destination.

As Cancun recovers from the devastation of Hurricane Wilma - a Category 4 storm that roared ashore last October, causing an estimated $1 billion in damage - many hotel and resort owners are hoping to switch from booze cruises, deafening club music and wet T-shirt contests to a more mature environment for high-end tourists and families.

Le Blanc Spa Resort, which opened its doors in August, represents the more grown-up Cancun. Only blocks from the all-you-can-drink discos, the chic hotel is an oasis of serenity, featuring stepping stones across indoor waterways and glowing candles in onyx vases.

In addition to the soothing natural beverages and moist towels, each room comes with a menu of pillows to choose from, including lavender-scented, goose-feather, water-filled and hypoallergenic.

For the past few years, Cancun has attempted to tone down its wild party image and attract more families and business travelers - just as Fort Lauderdale, Fla., years ago broadened its tourist base beyond students.

A "civility pact" signed by Cancun travel agents, hotel operators and bar owners in 2002 prevents drunken patrons from entering restaurants and clubs and restricts student-oriented contests and advertising that promote drinking. More recently, some hotels have limited the number of spring breakers who can pack into a room and have added security to guard against damage or unruliness.

"In a lot of ways, we can thank God for the hurricane because a lot of hotels are investing in upgrading their facilities," said Antonio Pitta, a Cancun resident and Latin America director for Orbitz.com and Cheaptickets.com.

"I think we have every opportunity now to shift from the party-type image that the destination has always had to a more upscale place with quite a bit of options," Pitta said.

This year, Cancun fell to eighth place, and thus far has staged a mellower spring break - without the plethora of get-naked-in-public contests. Only about 25,000 students are expected this year, compared with the approximately 40,000 who showed up in 2005. Nearly half of the city's hotels remain closed.

MTV, which traditionally hosts spring shows in Cancun, decided this year to film celebrities in the Pacific coast resort of Acapulco - the new spring break hotspot, according to a news release from the network.

While Cancun will continue to lure college students with its sugary beaches, tropical sun and legendary night clubs, the city's tourism director, Jesus Rossano, said it will rebound from the hurricane damage as a world-class resort as well.

Gordon Viberg, chief executive of Grupo Presidente, which operates Cancun's Presidente Intercontinental hotel, said the move toward a more upscale crowd is simply good business. The Presidente has installed a new oceanfront deck bar, five additional whirlpool spas and a rooftop tennis court, among other upgrades. It also added more than 15 feet of frontage to its beach.

"They're a rambunctious crowd and that sometimes creates problems," Viberg said of the spring breakers. "Your business cannot survive on the six-week period when the college kids come."

Spring breakers account for less than 1 percent of the approximately 3.5 million visitors expected in Cancun this year, and generate only $12 million of Cancun's $6 billion in yearly foreign tourist revenue, according to the Cancun Convention & Visitors Bureau.

"Spring breakers are the future tourists," said Edgar Paniagua, vice president of the Mexican Association of Travel Agencies. "When they grow up and have kids, they'll want to come back."

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