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You’ve heard the story before: A dreaded natural disaster sweeps
across a popular vacation destination, leaving destruction in its
wake and a crippling impact felt many months or years later.
Thankfully, this is not one of those tales. For Mexico’s Los
Cabos region, effective disaster-management plans, a well-
coordinated government response, and the dedication of staff
and management at area resorts following September’s
Hurricane Odile resulted in a quick recovery — and improve-
ments to boot — within months. It’s a success story with
lessons worth learning.
Tourism Impact
Hurricane Odile made landfall at 9:45 p.m. on September 14 as
a Category 3 storm, generating winds of up to 125 miles per
hour. The strongest storm to hit Baja California Sur since 1967’s
Hurricane Olivia, Odile flooded streets, shut down travel, and
caused many millions in damage to area resorts.
The storm’s impact on tourism, a key industry in Los
Cabos, was no small matter. More than 1 million visitors vaca-
tion in the area annually, and in recent years, the revenue
generated by tourism has been creeping toward US$1 billion.
In addition, more than one-third of the Los Cabos workforce is
APRIL – JUNE 2015
LOS CABOS, MEXICO
By Jacquelyn Kalis
Rapid
Rebound
RESORTDEVELOPER.COM
vacation industry review
8
Less than a year after a Category 3 hurricane hit
Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, Cabo is back —
and better than ever.