With so much of the world is still off limits to US citizens, there's been an increased
interest in travel to Mexico, but just how open is open for tourism?
After this video, you'll know what you can expect from a trip to central Mexico.
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Hi, I'm Alex and I'm an American expat living in Querétaro, Mexico.
In case you're unfamiliar with Querétaro, it's a city located in central Mexico.
It's about three hours north of Mexico City by bus and one hour south of San Miguel de
Allende, one of Mexico's most popular tourist destinations.
Now, unlike San Miguel, Querétaro isn't huge on the international tourism scene, yet.
But Mexican travelers have long loved it for its colonial architecture and overall safety.
I'm making this video because I know many of you are interested in moving to Querétaro
and want to know if it's safe to visit during the pandemic.
If you're curious about what it's like to travel to Mexico during COVID-19, then check
out this video next, which details what it's like to fly during the pandemic.
Let's get right to it.
The Mexican government is using a stoplight color designation to rate the risk of contracting
COVID in any given state.
Now there are four colors, green, yellow, orange, and red.
Right now, the state of Querétaro, which the city of Querétaro is the capital of is
semáfaro naranja, or the orange stoplight.
Just for a little perspective, there isn't a single state in Mexico that is anything
other than orange or red.
And I don't predict any state will be in green until there's a vaccine.
Way back on April 3rd, which seems like a million years ago now, the entirety of Mexico
pretty much shut down and nonessential businesses like hotels and restaurants weren't operating.
On June 1st, the country started to open back up, which was good news for those nonessential
businesses, but the level to which hotels, restaurants, and other non essential businesses
are able to be open and conduct business depends on the state's stoplight color designation,
as well as any local restrictions.
Even though Querétaro doesn't depend on tourism as much as other cities and states around
the country, business owners that have come to rely on those tourism dollars are obviously
very interested in seeing travelers return to the city.
In advertisements, around the city, and even on social media, I've seen the tourism board
and other tourism related businesses sharing the news that the city received the seal of
safe travel from the World Travel and Tourism Board.
Now what this seal means, this stamp of approval essentially, is that the city of Querétaro,
I think actually the entire state of Querétaro has complied with the safety and hygiene protocols
that this particular council mandates.
Last weekend, I headed out into the city center to get a better idea of just how open Querétaro
is for tourism.
And while walking around the city center, I can tell you that I saw about 85, 90% of
people wearing masks.
Now that other 15, 10% of people, many of them had masks and were wearing them around
their neck or had them in their hands, because everywhere in the city, it is required that
you wear a face covering, cubreboca, in order to enter an establishment.
Mexico understands that masks have to be worn in order to stop the spread of the virus and
wearing masks hasn't been politicized here like it has been in other parts of the world.
I read online that in San Miguel de Allende, which again is an hour away from Querétaro,
two tourists were arrested for not wearing masks on the street.
So just know that Mexico is taking the mask wearing very, very seriously and if you come
here, you should plan on doing the same.
Now I'm going to run through various establishments, and services, activities to let you know where
they stand in terms of being open for tourism.
Hotels.
Now, according to the Mexican government, states that are in that orange stoplight are
allowed to have hotels open up to 30% capacity.
When I was walking around in the city center, I saw that most hotels were open with the
exception of some smaller hotels.
And these hotels were actively advertising, trying to get people to book a reservation
to book a night there.
Airbnbs.
I know a lot of travelers, perhaps many of you prefer to stay in Airbnbs when they travel.
And I can tell you that after a quick search on the Airbnb website for Querétaro, I saw
that many Airbnbs are still in fact in operation.
So as of right now, there doesn't seem to be any restrictions on Airbnbs.
Restaurants.
Restaurants are allowed to have up to 50% capacity and many in the city center had added
outdoor seating in order to make themselves more attractive to potential diners.
If you come to Querétaro and don't feel comfortable eating in a restaurant, just know that you
can always ask to take something away, para llevar, or order on Uber Eats or Rappi.
Rappi is a another app that you can use to order food on your phone.
Market and shopping markets.
When people come to Mexico, they always want to visit the market.
And in Querétaro, they usually head to Mercado La Cruz.
I haven't been inside the market since the pandemic started, but this past weekend I
walked around the outside of it and saw that the market was taking some different precautions
to help people feel more safe there.
For example, when I was there on Sunday, which is generally the busiest day for the market,
lots of people and even more vendors, I saw that La Cruz had removed many of the tarps
on the outside of this extra [foreign language 00:06:37] portion in order to allow for more
airflow.
Markets and department stores are allowed to be at 75% capacity.
And they were really sticking to that when I visited the sole department store into the
city center.
Now only one person per family is allowed to enter, you have to get a temperature check
at the front door, you have to have a pump of hand sanitizer that you rub all over your
hands.
And then in the store, there are clerks going around asking people to move further apart
if they're not adhering to that six feet of social distancing.
Are you considering a trip to Mexico soon?
Let me know in the comments.
Tours.
Now, while I don't have an exact figure as to the capacity allowed for different tours,
I can tell you that they are operational again in Querétaro.
Last week I heard La Llorona screaming outside of my front door as part
of Querétaro's famous myths and legends tour.
I've also seen that the wine and cheese route is back as well as walking tours and the tourist
tram cart in the city.
Museums.
According to Google some of Querétaro's museums are open while others are not.
So definitely check that before you plan your trip.
Want more details about what there is to do in Querétaro?
Then head to my blog, backpackingbrunette.com and check out this post with the 10 best things
to do in Querétaro.
I'll go ahead and link it in the description.
Hopefully this video gives you a better idea of what open for tourism means in this part
of Mexico.
Like I said, I made this video for people who are interested in moving to Querétaro
and I'm still not advocating for international travel during the time of COVID-19.
If you have any questions about traveling to Mexico or moving to Mexico, go ahead and
leave those in the comments and I'll be sure to get back to them.
I'm Alex from backpackingbrunette.com.
Thanks for watching and stay safe out there.
Watch these videos next for even more advice about moving to Mexico.
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