From 2019 to 2023, Los Cabos grew by a million visitors a year, with an ADR of $480 per night. The destination sustained this growth in 2024 and is on track to do so again in 2025. According to Rodrigo Esponda, managing director of Los Cabos Tourism Board, this allows Los Cabos to focus on its priorities: quality, service and the experience, “rather than growing and lowering quality and value.”
Here, Esponda shares how the destination plans to grow steadily, focusing on quality hospitality and experiences, while also safeguarding Los Cabos from any economic or political uncertainty.
Rodrigo Esponda, CEO of Los Cabos Tourism Board
Credit: 2025 Los Cabos Tourism Board
With tariffs in the news, have you seen any impact on bookings?
Fortunately, we have not seen this, and we will continue to reinforce the value proposition that Los Cabos can offer to travelers. In January and February of this year, we had 3% less travelers to the destination, which is not a lot, and the ADR is holding. And the luxury segment is increasing, so the mix of business is very good.
We have 32 cities from the U.S. with nonstop flights to Los Cabos, so we are becoming more diversified in the U.S. with more origins into the destination.
What we have seen is that the number of air seats from the United States to Los Cabos was holding in the first two months. And in the next six months, we will see 5.5% more seats versus the same time last year.
And another big gain for the destination is we are seeing new flights and routes. Last week, we had a new daily nonstop flight from Oakland, California. And the week before that, we had our first flight from Nashville, Tennessee, to Los Cabos.
Los Cabos is working on a guide to marine life.
Credit: 2025 Los Cabos Tourism BoardWe have 32 cities from the U.S. with nonstop flights to Los Cabos, so we are becoming more diversified in the U.S. with more origins into the destination.
California is a leading market for Los Cabos, particularly for its ultra-high-net-worth clients, right?
A very key element that California provides Los Cabos is arrivals on private planes. Last year, we had 3.7 million travelers in total to the destination — 2.2 million from the U.S. with 100,000 by private plane. That is significant if you consider the spending those 100,000 passengers are generating for the destination. Sixty percent of those originate in California — Hollywood celebrities and the technology sector.
In Canada, a lot of Canadians are banding together, avoiding U.S. travel and choosing to travel domestically. Are you seeing this in Mexico?
We are seeing a 10% increase in Canadians coming to Los Cabos. My kids live in Canada — they are Canadians, and they tell me this all the time — so, I know that there is this feeling from Canada towards the U.S. In our case, I have not heard any comment, not even from any [Mexican] friends that I'm not going to go to the U.S. or I'm not going to buy a Budweiser because it’s from the U.S., or anything like that.
Here, Americans are more welcome than ever.
But I think it's different in the sense that tourism in Los Cabos, and Mexico, is a vital sector of the economy and we are a very hospitable society, country and culture. It would be difficult to find a Mexican saying, ‘Oh, I don't like foreigners,’ because it's the opposite. We like tourism. And in Los Cabos, the U.S. is the No. 1 market, and we have a big expat community living here.
And we have a lot of local product sourcing that the industry is trying to develop; Americans like to buy products that are generated here, and they ask for them. So, it's a different type of feeling from what could be happening in other parts of the world.
Here, Americans are more welcome than ever.
Does Los Cabos have a plan in place if things go awry politically or economically?
What we know is that we need to be very close to our partners. When I went to California [two weeks ago], part of the purpose was to meet with key partners. Pleasant Holidays has a new CEO [David Hu], so I went expressly to meet with him. Pleasant is a critical partner to Los Cabos because of its location and its type of product.
Then I met with [Shelby Donley] from Virtuoso, who is another strategic partner of Los Cabos. She heads the new Ultra-High-Net-Worth (UHNW) business division of Virtuoso — exactly those who come by private plane and stay at Virtuoso hotels (we have 15). And we met with Aero which has semi-private planes.
Are there any new hotels that advisors should be aware of for this year?
Yes, we have a very nice opening for the Park Hyatt Los Cabos at Cabo Del Sol hotel, located in the Los Cabos Corridor. It’s going to be an interesting luxury hotel, and it has been in the works for several years.
There are other projects that have been advancing very well. I don't think they will be ready this year. The Aman hotel will be opening early 2026, and the St. Regis will be ready for 2026, too.
We have 18,500 rooms, so we cannot grow by 3,000 rooms because that would create an imbalance.
There is also a new project in front of the Park Hyatt that is like a luxury village that will be adjoining shopping with arts and restaurants. It’s a very high-end concept that I think will be a very good addition to the destination.
Conrad and Hyatt are building small properties on the Pacific side for 2027.
Park Hyatt Los Cabos at Cabo Del Sol hotel is the only luxury hotel set to open this year, with Aman and St. Regis following in 2026.
Credit: 2025 Park Hyatt Los Cabos at Cabo Del Sol hotel
The Park Hyatt will be a great opening and it’s exactly what we need [with 163 guestrooms]. We cannot start having big openings. We have 18,500 rooms, so we cannot grow by 3,000 rooms because that would create an imbalance.
Do you have any other dream goals for Los Cabos that you haven't achieved yet?
We are working on two projects that have been taking several years. One is a product development strategy for our marine life — whales, rays, turtles, dolphins and sealions. We are incorporating all the suppliers in a digital guide that will also be on the Visit Los Cabos site for everybody, including advisors, to know what they can offer throughout different times of the year.
And the second project that has been in the books for three years is a birdwatching guide for the mountainside. There are 12 endemic birds that you can only see in the Sierra de la Laguna region. It's incredible. For example, we have a type of hummingbird — the Xantus — that you can only see here.
We are working on these projects because we believe that travelers who have been coming to Los Cabos need to find new products to keep coming back.
