The Los Cabos Tourism Board has announced an unprecedented growth in tourism arrivals expected by the end of 2022, with more than 3.3 million visitors. That’s a better than 20% projected growth when compared to 2021, and a 32% compounded growth over the last five years, with 800 thousand more passengers than 2017. Los Cabos’ steady year-over-year growth is the result of the destination’s flexible business model, the high quality of services, its safety and security approach, and integration of its private and public sectors to strengthen international promotional efforts.

Los Cabos has over 1.3 million seats from the United States scheduled for the next six months (October 2022 to March 2023), representing a 35.2% increase when compared to the same period in 2019. In the Canadian market, the destination also projected 19.3% more available seats for the next six months, and in the domestic market the increase in available seats is 95.8%, both compared to the same period in 2019.

With a renewed vision, dynamic marketing programs, and an updated tourism offering, Los Cabos is reinvigorating its wellness and sustainability offering. The destination has been a long-standing pioneer in luxury travel, personalized service, and unique travel experiences. With the pandemic, Los Cabos took on another challenge to reimagine travel by centering the local community and the environment at the core of everything they do. From optimizing resources dedicated to investment in hotel infrastructure and protecting its natural ecosystems to creating community programs and ensuring the equal growth, development, and well-being of the local population, Los Cabos is focusing on its next chapter as a sustainable destination.

“As Los Cabos’ tourism is on a steep rise, it is not lost on us that our destination increasingly requires more care and protection,” said Rodrigo Esponda, Managing Director of the Los Cabos Tourism Board. “We take a holistic approach in the sustainability of Los Cabos. Sustainability is no longer about small practices we are implementing, but rather a guiding principle on the type of destination we want to be as we care for the environment, community, culture and more.”

Across the destination, resorts and tourism-based companies are committing to the environment, making sustainability a focus of their business model.

Los Cabos’ holistic sustainability approach is showcased in its…

• Breadth of Nature-Centered Experiences:
  

  An increased number of travelers continue to select Los Cabos as a destination not only to disconnect from their busy lives, but also to re-connect with nature given the range of authentic experiences available.

  • The community of Santiago is developing eco-tourism program offerings in partnership with local ranches.
  • At Rancho Cacachilas, locals are invited to learn new skills like how to bee keep and make cheese from goats’ milk – both ancient skills they are trying to reintroduce into communities.

• Beckoning Resorts:
  

  With more than 1,500 new hotel rooms expected from 2022-2024, Los Cabos continues to attract renowned hotel brands.

• • New hotel developments are focused on sustainability and regeneration practices that will continue to advance Los Cabos into sustainability at every single touch point.
  • Upcoming openings include Rancho Pescadero of the Unbound Collection expected to fully open by the end of 2022, St. Regis Los Cabos at Quivira in 2023, Four Seasons Resort and Residences Cabo San Lucas at Cabo del Sol in late 2023, Park Hyatt in 2023, Vidanta East Cape in 2024, Amanvari in 2024, Soho House & Beach Club in Q3 and Q4 of 2024, and Casa Vela in 2023.

• Blossoming Gastronomy:
  

  In Los Cabos, most gastronomic experiences are born out of a desire to source locally and highlight the heritage of the area without sacrificing taste.

• • Baja Brewing Company is one of the first breweries in Mexico and creates seasonal flavors based on what is being grown in the region.
  • San José del Cabo’s 23400 District draws visitors into the history of the destination with authentic food and flavors across restaurants, food trucks and open-air stalls.

To allow tourists to virtually experience Los Cabos even before they travel, the destination is launching an immersive aerial-to-ground experience featuring 3D effects and ambient sounds that emulate the destination’s real-life environment. Los Cabos is the first destination in Latin America to implement this immersive technology with the goal of capturing new audiences that are ready to adopt Web3 and Metaverse technologies. Click here to immerse yourself in Los Cabos’ virtual experience.

Want your business featured in our directory and promoted by CaboViVO, please be sure to contact us here, thanks…

Saludos from Co-Founders…

Chris Sands – Writer  and Michael Mattos

The post Los Cabos to Close 2022 with Historic 20% Growth in Tourism appeared first on CaboViVO.

“We understand how crucial it is to establish new standards of cleanliness, hygiene and social distancing,” said Alberto Coppel, CEO of Pueblo Bonito Resorts. “To ensure a safe environment for our guests and staff, we have partnered with various medical specialists and PREVERISK, a global leader in hotel consulting.”  The company is certified in preventive protocols for COVID-19 (COVID-19 Hygiene Response Certificate), disinfection, hygiene, general sanitation and food safety.

“In addition to tapping the expertise of our consultants, the hygiene practices at the resorts will meet or exceed the recommendations of local and international health authorities,” Coppel stated.  “At all times, our priority is the health and safety of our owners, guests and coworkers.”

Pueblo Bonito Resorts has also instituted its own CARE Pledge. CARE translates to Conscientious Service, Advanced Standards, Rigorous Sanitation, Elevated Hygiene.

The luxury resort collection has established safety and sanitary protocols for all operational areas—from arrival at the international airport in Los Cabos, to the front entrances of the resorts; in rooms, at the pools, spa and fitness areas, Quivira Golf Club and in the restaurants.

For example, all guest luggage will be sanitized upon arrival, and guests will enter a sanitation cabin and receive temperature checks with an infrared digital thermometer.  Mobile pre-check-in will be available and social distancing protocols of six feet will be established in all public areas, including pools and restaurants.  A full set of guidelines may be found here.

Resort management will continue to monitor guidelines and update procedures, as necessary.

“We look forward to serving our guests again, and pledge to do so in the safest possible environment,” Coppel said. “Until then, stay healthy and safe!”

For additional information on Pueblo Bonito Resorts visit www.pueblobonito.com.

About Pueblo Bonito Golf & Spa Resorts

Pueblo Bonito Golf & Spa Resorts include eight award-winning properties in two destinations, Cabo San Lucas and Mazatlán, all offering luxury all-inclusive options. Each of the properties has its own personality, design and ambiance, yet all share the same high level of impeccable quality and distinguished atmosphere.

In Cabo San Lucas, the adults-only Pueblo Bonito Pacifica Golf & Spa Resort is the ideal setting for a romantic getaway, while Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach Golf & Spa Resort, with its large, all ocean-view suites, is perfect for families.  Pueblo Bonito Rosé Resort & Spa and Pueblo Bonito Los Cabos, both located on El Médano beach, have the best to offer vacationers looking to be right in the middle of all the Cabo action. In Mazatlán, the elegant jewel Pueblo Bonito Emerald Bay Resort & Spa overlooks the Pacific Ocean and a private beach, while the charming Pueblo Bonito Mazatlán, is located in the famous Golden Zone. Both resorts are great for family vacations and romantic getaways. For more information visit www.pueblobonito.com, find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pueblobonitoresort and follow us on Twitter @PuebloBonito.

Want your business, activity or event featured and promoted by CaboViVO, please be sure to contact us here, thanks…

Saludos from Co-Founders…

Chris Sands – Writer  and Michael Mattos

The post Pueblo Bonito Resorts Lead the Way as Los Cabos Prepares to Reopen after Quarantine appeared first on CaboViVO.

In actuality, it was a soldier and former blacksmith named Manuel de Ocio. 

It’s not a name most people know, since most people don’t know that Baja California was the original California. In fact, from the first landing of Hernán Cortés in La Paz in 1535 until 1769, it was the only part of California to be settled by European colonizers. In this case, Jesuit missionaries and their attendant support staff, which included a few dozen soldiers to protect them from the native tribes of nomadic hunter-gatherers they were trying to convert, and a few sailors to help ferry needed supplies from mainland México. 

Ocio was born in 1700 in Andalusia, Spain, but his first documented presence in peninsular California was in 1733, when he was listed on the presidio rolls at Loreto as a soldier at full pay. 

It was the next year, however, that he first stepped into history, helping to save the life of Padre Sigismundo Taraval in Todos Santos, after indigenous Pericúes revolted and killed the Jesuit padres at Santiago (Lorenzo Carranco) and San José del Cabo (Nicolás Tamaral). Ocio and two other soldiers had the foresight to spirit the good father Taraval away before the mission at Todos Santos and that at La Paz were also destroyed during the three-year uprising subsequently known as The Rebellion of the Pericúes. 

Life on the peninsular frontier wasn’t all danger, however. In 1741, Ocio was serving at the mission in San Ignacio when a powerful chubasco threw up an enormous quantity of oyster shells onto beaches at the 28th parallel (near the northern border of modern day Baja California Sur). 

The local Cochimí tribe knew that Spaniards were fond of shiny pearls, so they decided to barter the information in trade for items they found useful. Ocio was one of a few soldiers to learn the news, but the only one with the experience and connections to truly take advantage of the opportunity. He immediately retired as a soldier and hurried off to Guadalajara (then capital of Nueva Galicia) to acquire everything he would need for a full-scale pearling operation, from canoes to crews and more goods to barter with the Cochimí.

Over the next three years, he would harvest over 400 pounds of pearls. They weren’t the best of quality, but they were enough to make him rich and finance his subsequent investments, which included the first peninsular silver mining operation at Santa Ana – just south of modern day mining towns El Triunfo and San Antonio – a ranching business with up to 16,000 head of cattle at its peak, and a merchant store. He also invested his earnings in real estate, buying at least 14 houses in Guadalajara, which he used for rental income. 

Ocio, as the first rich man and the first real taxpayer in California, also acquired the right to impose the “King’s Fifth” on other would-be pearlers. In short, he established a sort of mini business empire in the heart of Jesuit California; which, by the way, brought him continually into conflict and litigation with his former employers over the next 20+ years. 

How did he do it? What were the connections that helped him take advantage of a golden opportunity? Well, for starters, he married well. 

Here’s the story…

Born in Portugal, Esteban Rodríguez Lorenzo was one of the first men recruited by the Jesuits for their California venture, and was one of the original 10 who landed on the beach in Loreto in 1697. He was captain of the presidio for nearly 40 years, making him the highest ranking secular figure on the peninsula. He was, in effect, both governor and justicia mayor, the chief justice in charge of settling civil disputes.

After briefly resigning his post, Rodríguez returned to the mainland, where he met María de Larrea. The two were married in 1707, and became the first settlers to start a family in California, having seven children. Ocio married the sixth, daughter Rosalía, who was born in 1717. Another daughter, María, married Pedro de la Riva, who became lieutenant of the Escuadra del Sur, the presidio substation established in San José del Cabo in the early 1740s.

These connections were crucial to Ocio’s success. His father-in-law expedited his retirement to pursue his pearling opportunity, and his brother-in-law helped defend the Real de Santa Ana mines against native tribes. Unfortunately, wealth would not bring Ocio happiness. His wife and one of his two sons, Mariano, died within five years of the opening of the mines in 1748. 

But Ocio remains a hugely important California historical figure for several reasons. One, he was the first entrepreneur. Two, his money helped finance the settlement of what would become known as Alta California, and eventually the U.S. state of California. 

It happened like this…

After the Jesuits were expelled from all Spanish territories in 1767, and the Franciscans installed in California, Ocio paid to have one of his ships bring visitador generál José del Gálvez to California, and hosted Gálvez when he established his headquarters at Santa Ana. It was Gálvez who planned expansion and oversaw the 1769 expedition of Gaspar de Portolá and Junípero Serra into Alta California, which gave birth to a new territory (with devastating consequences for what, after 1804, would come to be known as Baja California). 

The consequences for Ocio of this generosity would also prove devastating. He was fleeced in card games by officials of Gálvez and, in 1771, murdered by two of Gálvez’s imported miners, who were in the process of robbing Ocio’s storehouse. 

It’s not a storybook ending by any means, but Ocio’s tragic downfall should not obscure the third and most important reason his legacy endures today.

The mines at Real de Santa Ana required a workforce that would eventually reach over 300 people, drawing laborers from the mainland who would not only help populate California, but become the founders of many pioneer peninsular families (like the Cota family), whose descendants are still prominent in Los Cabos today.

In fact, you never know when you might meet one. 

Want your business featured in our directory and promoted by CaboViVO, please be sure to contact us here, thanks…

Saludos from Co-Founders…

Chris Sands – Writer and Michael Mattos

The post The History of Los Cabos –The First Rich Man in California appeared first on CaboViVO.

Los Cabos has been riding the crest of an unprecedented golfing boom for close to three decades now. Since the first modest 9-hole course appeared in San Jose del Cabo in 1987, championship-level loops have been premiering on a regular basis. Jack Nicklaus kick-started the local boom in the 1990s with memorable courses at Palmilla, El Dorado, and Cabo del Sol; but other major champions soon followed, including Tom Weiskopf, Greg Norman, Davis Love III and Tiger Woods.

As of April 2018, there are 15 courses operating in Los Cabos, and four of them – an astonishing 27% – made Golf Digest’s recent list of the 100 best international courses. Love’s Dunes Course at Diamante sits at 38th overall in Golf Magazine’s ratings, which encompasses courses from every country on earth. Nicklaus’ Ocean Course has been rated among the top 100 for 15 consecutive years, and his spectacular course at Quivira cracked the elite rankings after being open for only three years.

Amazingly, there are no signs that the pace of new courses in lessening. Quite the contrary. As many as a half-dozen new courses are slated to open in the next few years, including challenging new layouts from Woods, Nicklaus, Norman, Fred Couples and Robert Trent Jones II.

Here are the top 5 new courses expected to open by 2020…

The First Fred Couples Design in Los Cabos

Fred Couples only captured one major championship – the 1992 Masters Tournament at Augusta National – but his sweet, seemingly effortless swing and consistent play translated to over 60 total wins, and better than two decades of stardom on the PGA Tour. Now he’s coming to Los Cabos, designing the highly anticipated Twin Dolphin Golf Club. If the name Twin Dolphin sounds familiar, it’s because it is:  it was the name of a pioneer resort which originally opened in the Los Cabos tourist corridor during the 1970s. The reincarnated version will accompany Montage and Maravilla, two new resort and residential projects overlooking Bahia Santa Maria. Play is expected to begin later this year.

A New Greg Norman Course at Rancho San Lucas

Solmar Group is not only one of the premier Los Cabos hospitality brands, but a legacy company whose history is inextricably tied up with the growth of tourism in Cabo San Lucas. The group’s founder, Don Luis Bulnes Molleda, was the manager of the Land’s End community’s cannery before he partnered with Luis Coppola on Finisterra, and then opened his own Hotel Solmar in 1974. Rancho San Lucas is Solmar’s ambitious new resort and residential development on Cabo San Lucas’ Pacific Coast. It joins a portfolio that already includes Solmar Resort, Grand Solmar and Playa Grande, and will be centered around an 18-hole golf course from Norman that is expected be open by late 2018 or early 2019.

A Second Jack Nicklaus Course at Quivira

When legendary champion Jack Nicklaus kick-started the Los Cabos golfing boom in the early 1990s, his natural canvases were found at tourist corridor properties like Palmilla and Cabo del Sol. Now, with the success of Diamante and Nicklaus’ first magnificent effort at Quivira, the golf focus has shifted to the Pacific Coast. Quivira Golf Club opened in 2014 and has climbed the world rankings in near record time, so reports that Nicklaus is returning to design a second course for the Pueblo Bonito affiliated development counts as big news. Groundbreaking on the new layout is expected to happen next summer.

A Second Robert Trent Jones II Course in Los Cabos

Robert Trent Jones II is one of the least heralded Los Cabos course architects. There’s no secret why. He’s one of the few that has never won a major championship. Then again, he is the son of the most prolific designer ever, and a man who has designed over 270 courses around the world during his own acclaimed 50-year career. Jones helped put Los Cabos on the golfing map when television cameras caught whales breaching near a seaside green during a 1996 PGA Senior Grand Slam event at his Cabo Real course. Now he’s returning to design a second local loop, this time for luxury brand Four Seasons at their new Costa Palmas resort on Los Cabos’ gorgeous East Cape. Expect the new golf course to open in mid to late 2019.

A Third Tiger Woods Course at Diamante

Diamante ushered in the second wave of the Los Cabos golf boom with Davis Love III’s majestic links style Dunes Course, which has been showered in accolades ever since it opened in 2009. The Dunes may be the showpiece, but the star at Diamante is now 14-time major champion Tiger Woods, who has already designed two courses for the resort and residential development north of Cabo San Lucas – the parkland El Cardonal and the 12-hole Oasis short course – and has another in the development stages. Woods, who has made news recently with a return to form following years of back and knee-related injuries, will be a favorite at next month’s Masters Tournament. Groundbreaking on his third Diamante offering, a lush layout in the style of Shadow Creek in Las Vegas, is expected to begin in 2019.

Want your business, activity or event featured and promoted by CaboViVO, please be sure to contact us here, thanks…

Saludos,

Chris Sands

The post Top 5 New Golf Courses Coming to Los Cabos appeared first on CaboViVO.