“Our Best Customers Book with Agents”: Rodrigo Esponda of Los Cabos

Rodrigo Esponda loves all Canadian visitors to Los Cabos. But he likes the ones who book with a travel advisor the best.

Speaking at a gathering of journalists in Toronto on 26FEB, Esponda, Managing Director of the Los Cabos Tourism Board, said 30% of his region’s business comes from travel agents.

“Our best customers book with agents,” he said. “They tell them the best places to eat, the best excursions to take, and they pick the right hotels.”

Esponda said Los Cabos Tourism relaunched its travel advisor specialist program last year. The program includes an updated education platform and downloadable resources such as maps, guides, video and images. There’s also a new B2B Marketplace, where advisors can interact directly with destination suppliers, and much more. Agents also can win prizes such as Amazon gift cards and earn exclusive privileges.

Traffic volumes to Los Cabos from carriers such as Air Canada, WestJet, and Flair surpassed pre-pandemic 2019 figures, Esponda said. Cumulatively, passenger figures rose over 94% year-over-year compared to 2022, with Canadian arrivals surpassing 200,000.  

“With a renewed focus on wellness experiences, 2023 proved to be an exceptional year for Los Cabos that saw Canadian travellers embrace us like never before,” said Esponda. “We can only look forward to welcoming more Canadians in what is shaping up to be an equally stellar 2024.”

Los Cabos has about 18,000 hotel rooms, 3,000 of them in the luxury category. Most tend to be smaller hotels due to regional height and density restrictions, he said.

The area also is known as the centre for luxury travel in Mexico. Eleven of the country’s 18 leading hotels are in Los Cabos, and new properties are coming in the next couple years from St. Regis, Four Seasons, Park Hyatt, Aman, and other hotel groups.

Recently opened properties include the Grand Velas Boutique Hotel in San Jose del Cabo and the Todos Santos Boutique Hotel, which is housed in a building that dates to 1890 and was once owned by a Spanish countess.

Espando said Los Cabos is unique in that it offers beaches, deserts and mountains. The Sierra de la Laguna mountains offer up ancient rock carvings and beautiful freshwater lagoons and natural springs that are perfect for a swim.

The quiet East Cape area is home to amazing beaches and marine life, where you can snorkel or scuba dive with dolphins, manta rays, whale sharks and turtles.

“Thirty per cent of the world’s marine mammals can be found in the Sea of Cortez,” he said. A two-hour drive will take a visitor from the Sea of Cortez to the Pacific Ocean, where there’s excellent surfing.

 “It’s also very, very, very safe,” Espando said.

Visitors interested in history and art will find plenty to like in Los Cabos, he said. The town of San Jose del Cabo dates back some 300 years and has a missión built by the Spanish in 1730. The area also is home to the largest art gallery zone in Mexico.

 Espando said the town of Todos Santos “has a bit of hippie chic, but it’s not hippie, hippie, hippie.” The region is also famous for its farms and is the number one supplier of organic produce in Mexico.

Los Cabos is a great wedding destination and is an excellent vacation spot for golfers, with 18 courses already in existence and four new ones on the way, including layouts designed by Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

 “You can’t find another place like this,” Espando said.

 Wellness and sustainability are also key themes for Los Cabos, which has a “Wellness Champions” campaign aimed at demonstrating global leadership in water conservation, recycling, and habitat protection initiatives.  

 For more information on Los Cabos, visit https://www.visitloscabos.travel/.