WestJet Puts Spotlight on Mexico’s Yucatan

WestJet Vacations can accommodate those seeking a Yucatan Peninsula vacation that’s doesn’t involve hugely popular Cancun and the Riviera Maya.

The tour operator’s Dave Cecco told a Toronto gathering last week that WestJet will begin non-stop service from Toronto to the interior Yucatan city of Merida Dec. 15 and WestJet Vacations in turn has a program that will send people to Merida and the nearby Gulf of Mexico for those who want a saltwater-fronting resort.

“We think we’ve found the gem in Mexico,” he said.

Cecco declared the area is “full of culture” and visitors can find cooking classes and visit “amazing” Maya archeological sites, among them Chichen Itza. The area also has a large flamingo population visitors can view, a Jack Nicklaus golf course and adventurous tourists can also rappel into cenotes, the underground water bodies found throughout the Yucatan, Cecco continued.

Among WestJet Vacations hotel options in Merida – dubbed the White City because of the white stone used in many of its long-standing buildings – is a Hyatt. Beach-fronting Progreso is 40 minutes away and the Progreso area is home to the all-inclusive Reef Yucatan resort, which WestJet Vacations is offering. The tour operator can combine a Yucatan vacation that features both the Reef Yucatan and a hotel in Merida. WestJet Vacations is offering the Reef Yucatan for $949 plus $140 in taxes.

Pictured at the event are Cecco, Ana Palacios, tourism director for Yucatan; Rosa Elena Vermont Ricalde, international promotion manager, Yucatan; Fernanda Rosas, Mexico Tourism Board; Bonnie Eccles, Moreno Travel; Ethel Hansen Davey, UniGlobe; and Gonz Moreno, Moreno Travel.