LOS CABOS — Canada is already the second largest international market for Los Cabos – and now this market is on track to almost double its growth rate from 11% to 20%, with an estimated 240,000 Canadian visits for 2025, up from 200,000 in 2024.
“The Canadian market for us is very important. This year we grew 20%. That is going to be a record year,” said Rodrigo Esponda, Managing Director, Los Cabos Tourism Board, during an interview at the opening night of 19th annual Los Cabos VIP Summit.
The summit, happening this week at Hacienda del Mar Los Cabos, An Autograph Collection All-Inclusive Resort, held its opening reception at another luxury venue: Terrazza del Mar at Grand Velas Los Cabos.
Canadians are also staying longer than U.S. visitors, with 10 days on average compared to the five days U.S. visitors typically stay.
“Canadians really like to explore and Los Cabos is a destination where you’ll find there’s a lot of things to do between the mountains and the ocean. Let’s say the spending from the Canadian market is double compared to the traditional visitors from the U.S.,” said Esponda.
He added that the Los Cabos Tourism Board is particularly pleased to see that Canada’s 20% growth rate this year is mostly concentrated in Ontario and Montreal – two markets the destination has been targeting. Canada’s west coast still dominates, with 41% of Los Cabos-bound Canadians coming from Vancouver.
“That’s interesting because the time to come from Ontario is much more than what it is from Vancouver, but for us we’ve been working several years to expand the knowledge and awareness of Los Cabos on the east side of Canada and finally we’ve been able to do it,” he said.
While Vancouver has been offering direct flights year round to Los Cabos, starting next month WestJet will follow Air Canada’s lead and will begin offering a direct flight from Montreal and Toronto.
Air Canada, WestJet and Sunwing Vacations are among the 350 delegates from 20 different countries attending the Los Cabos VIP Summit this week.
The summit provides an opportunity for Los Cabos’ tourism destination partners to hold more than 1,600 business meetings during the course of the summit.
The summit’s opening panel, ‘Far Beyond the Borders: How to Create the Future by our Alliances’ set the tone, offering up an easygoing environment where delegates freely shared their insights on the inbound tourism scene.
The unexpected, relaxed Bohemian vibe in the grand hall was later repeated at the opening night’s cocktail hour, where food and drink flowed while musicians – one played an electric harp – kept delegates entertained while colourful performers struck vogue poses at the entrance.
“The way we see luxury is, you don’t have to spend a lot of money,” said Esponda. “Luxury is getting out in the morning for a walk and suddenly you see a whale. It doesn’t matter if you are paying a lot of money for a hotel, but if you are not having a unique experience that really transforms the way you feel you would not feel this is a luxury. In Los Cabos, we believe luxury is how you feel when you come to the destination.”
The Los Cabos Tourism Board is represented in Canada by Siren Communications. For more information about the Los Cabos VIP Summit click here. For more information about Los Cabos go to VisitLosCabos.travel.
