
After more than 100 days of violence in Sinaloa, the collateral effects felt in Mazatlán are increasingly stronger, as the productive sectors make a great effort to stay on their feet.
Economic activity in the rural area of the port is greatly affected because the arrival of visitors has slowed since the insecurity in the state worsened.
Business closures and staff cuts due to the low influx of visitors are part of the effects that insecurity has left in the communities with a tourist vocation in the municipality.
Sales in restaurants and craft stands in the Señorial Towns of El Quelite and La Noria remain at just 20 percent, around five businesses have closed and at least 50 people have become unemployed.
Promoter of rural tourism
The noble town of El Quelite, located just 38 kilometers north of Mazatlán, is the flagship community of rural tourism in Sinaloa, promoted by Marcos Osuna for 30 years.
The tourism promoter seeks to not lose the cultural identity of the region by preserving the gastronomic heritage, the flora and fauna of the site, and promoting the family industry through the necessary inputs in the tourist and gastronomic activity.
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“This began as a project that attracted people from the region and, by spreading the fame, we began to see the impact that made practically all of Sinaloa and other distant regions feel attracted to this unique model of rural tourism,” he said.
El Quelite today lives a difficult situation, it has begun with the recovery of the influx of visitors and with it the improvement of its economy, this after the violent events that began in September and continue in the capital and other municipalities of the state.
Marcos Osuna, owner of the restaurant “El Mesón de los Laureanos”, commented that the presence of foreign and local visitors has been increasing, although not steadily, because insecurity in Sinaloa still scares away tourism.
Rural area, the most affected
With the El Habal-La Noria tourist corridor, the economy of the area was reactivated, since there are currently nine country restaurants that provide employment to dozens of families in those communities.
However, the president of the National Council of Gastronomy in Mazatlán, Roberto Osuna Valdez, said that sales in restaurants in the rural area register levels of 20 percent.
“Since this began in September, we have had an exaggerated drop. We were the first to be hit; this has led us to reinvent ourselves to remain open and not lay off people, because this can become a social problem,” he explained.
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Osuna Valdez revealed that in the El Habal-La Noria tourist corridor, five of the nine restaurants have already closed their doors, and others have cut staff by up to 50 percent.
“There are already five restaurants that have closed. We have had to cut staff and other expenses, and hold on so as not to close, because this not only affects merchants, but also the economy of the rural area, which is based on tourism,” he said.
Citizen caravans
In an effort to reactivate the economy of El Quelite, a citizen caravan was held where around 100 people participated, as well as in La Noria.
The president of the State Congress’s Tourism Commission, Juan Carlos Patrón Rosales, called for everyone to participate in an act of solidarity, to rescue the spaces and to get rid of the fear of going to the rural area.
“We have El Quelite, which was a ‘boom’ in mobility to the rural area, and suddenly, although nothing serious has happened, people are not visiting it. The El Habal-La Noria tourist corridor maintains tranquility, and in some way the fact that people go and consume means that those jobs in those communities are not cut off,” he indicated.
There are also plans to visit La Tuna and El Recodo, where there are many seafood and Mexican restaurants, as well as Agua Caliente de Gárate and El Roble, due to their proximity to Mazatlán, Concordia, El Rosario and Escuinapa.
“We have to give life to Copala, which is also going through a very bad time. That is what it is about, not having these spaces for show, but rather getting everyone involved,” he explained.
Emergency support
The Secretary of Economy in Sinaloa, Ricardo Velarde Cárdenas, announced that work is already underway to ensure that Mazatlán and its rural area are integrated into the emergency support program in January and February.
He pointed out that the first benefits of this program for the southern region of the state are for San Ignacio, where the first 130 supports were delivered.
He recalled that it began in Culiacán, and then expanded to Navolato, with the Altata Bay, where a total of 54 restaurants were supported, as well as 120 street vendors.
Subsequently, a request was made by the most affected municipalities, such as Eldorado, Cosalá, Elota and San Ignacio, due to the situations presented in the center of the state and some municipalities in the south.
In the case of Mazatlán, he said that there are already talks with the municipal president Estrella Palacios Domínguez and some business organizations so that the program is implemented in the municipality.
Source: oem