By Juan Pablo Sebastián

Rosarito hotel occupancy reached 100 percent for the July 4th weekend, meeting the expectations of the tourism sector.

Hotel rooms began to fill up starting Wednesday, July 3. By Thursday, occupancy was close to 90 percent, and on Friday and Saturday, it reached maximum occupancy of 100 percent, surpassing last year’s numbers.

The strengthening of the dollar and the recent hot weather, following a long winter with adverse weather conditions, contributed to this surge. In fact, this was the first weekend with high temperatures and completely clear skies.

According to estimates from the Committee of Tourism and Conventions (COTUCO), 70 percent of the visitors came from Southern California. Meanwhile, 30 percent were tourists from elsewhere in that state.

The occupancy of condominiums was boosted by visitors from Mexicali, paying  rents of up to $4,000 or $5,000 per month.

Despite this surge in hotel occupancy, businesses in other tourism-related sectors have not seen a similar boost.