GDL hotels at30 percent capacity
Guadalajara’s hotel sector is making a slow but steady recovery from the Covid pandemic, says Juan Carlos Mondragón, president of the Jalisco Hotel Association.
“In 2019 we closed with 60.5 percent occupancy. 2020 saw us drop to 20.5 percent and right now we have an accumulated occupancy of 31.60 percent.” Mondragón called 50 percent “a desirable scenario,” but was unsure if this goal could be achieved by the end of the year. He urged the Jalisco government to raise the upper limit on hotel capacity to 70 percent for the summer, as well as lift current restrictions on trade show visitor capacity.
Blood donationsfall dramatically
Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, donations of blood to Guadalajara’s two public Civil Hospitals have fallen by an average of 40 percent. Dr. Viridiana Valdez Toral, who runs the blood bank at the Hospital Nuevo, said fear of becoming infected is the main factor discouraging people from giving blood. She stressed that biosafety protocols are rigorously observed at both facilities, which are set to hold a joint blood donation drive June 14-18.
Inflation starts to become a concern
The month of May saw Guadalajara experience its second highest inflation surge in the past ten years, equivalent to an annual rate of 6.35 percent, according to the State Institute of Statistical and Geographical Information (IIEG). Tepatitlán de Morelos recorded the highest annual inflation rate for an urban area in the state of Jalisco at 7.6 percent, while nationally that “honor” went to Fresnillo in Zacatecas, with 8.07 percent.