 ROSARITO BEACH, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO---This seaside resort area 30 miles south of San Diego just had its best weekend of the summer, with most major hotels at or near capacity.
Tourism promoters attributed the extremely busy weekend to a series of events including concerts, which attracted 20,000 people on Friday night alone.
Events included a concert by internationally known Pitbull to celebrate 25 years of “Mexicali on the Beach”, and an oceanfront Saturday night concert by Reik, part of the landmark Rosarito Beach Hotel`s 85th anniversary celebration.
The 422-room Rosarito Hotel, Grand Baja Resort, Festival Plaza and Las Rocas were among hotels at or near capacity Friday and Saturday nights, as restaurants, spas, taco stands and shops, especially in the downtown area, also were extremely busy.
“The Rosarito Committee for Tourism and Convention is convinced that having quality events, like we had this weekend, is a large part of how we can build a positive image of our destination,” said ConVis president Citlalitl Pereda.
Previously tourism had slowed in Rosarito the past three years, because scattered drug violence in Mexico made some people in the U.S. concerned about security in the area.
“We had a 23 percent reduction in crime last year, to our lowest level in five years, and the rate is down another 13 percent so far this year, said Rosarito Beach Mayor Hugo Torres.
“Rosarito has never been safer for our visitors, so hopefully that perception of insecurity is changing,” he added.
This past weekend passed without any major incident as have busy weekends in the past few years, as well as large events including the Rosarito-Ensenada 50-Mile Fun Bile Ride, which has attracted hundreds of thousands of participants during its 30-year run.
A major surfing contest, and a seafood festival are among events scheduled in Rosarito Beach in August. Additional events and some great summer deals are available at www.rosarito.org |
