TIJUANA.- The long Labor Day weekend brought in a surge of visitors to Baja California, according to Oscar Escobedo of the State Secretary of Tourism.

"It was a great week. We had at least 338 thousand visitors in the region, primarily from California, which means that tourists are regaining confidence in this destination; this is in line with what we have been tasked with by Governor Francisco Vega– to increase promotion to U.S. visitors, and is is bringing great results for the region," says Escobedo.

Escobedo states that the average hotel occupancy rate was around 62% with a greater rate in areas near the beach, where there was an average of 72% occupancy rate; meanwhile border cities report an occupation rate of 66%.

"Because of the weather, the majority saught to stay near the beach and enjoy the sun, for example, on Saturday, Ensenada had a 98% occupation rate, and rates of 96% in Rosarito, and 81% in San Felipe," he detailed.

He added that on average, occupation rates during this time frame are Ensenada at 77%, Rosarito at 72%, Tijuana at 74%, San Felipe at 52%, Mexicali at 50% and at Tecate 48%.

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"The influx of tourism results in about 36.6 million dollars in the local economy. "

He added that an additional 400 thousand residents of the Baja visited other regions within the state to attend organized events, such as the "Festival del Ceviche" in San Felipe, the Alejando Fernández concert in Valle de Guadalupe and the "Baja Sand 2014" competition in Rosarito.

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"We are talking about families that took advantage of the weekend to spend the day with their children and friends; the diversification of options that we know have for Baja Californians has been key to incentivizing residents to stay here instead of going elswhere: to be tourists in their own state" he added.

The Tourism departement reminds readers that September is expected to continue to have great weather and there will continue to be many events planned, which he hopes will continue to draw more tourists during the next coming weeks.

"The positive numbers we have received during the past couple of months allow us to continue expect positive results in September, and we hope to close off a strong summer season and in the year in general, he concluded.

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