Renaissance (n) a renewal of life, vigor, interest, etc.; rebirth; revival.

With a "gay friendly" reputation since the sixties, Puerto Vallarta has always been at the top of the North American and Mexican gay traveler's wish list. After some major challenges over the last six years, a Renaissance is clearly at hand.

The Triple Whammy

Starting six years ago, as the Great Recession had kicked in and tourism was down worldwide, Puerto Vallarta was hit by what I call a triple whammy:

Swine Flu Scare, March 2009: Although the first registered case was in San Diego, an outbreak of swine flu was blamed on Mexico and was badly over-hyped by the sensational media. To quote Wikipedia: "There was a lot of speculation and what seemed to be... dozens of deaths. Careful analysis showed these people likely died of something else, and not Swine flu." Nevertheless, tourists cancelled travel to Mexico in droves, and fears lingered for years.

Mexicana folds, August 2010: Founded in 1921, Mexicana Airlines ceased operations closing out a huge percentage of flights to Puerto Vallarta. Not until April of 2014 was the airline declared officially bankrupt. In the meantime, flight capacity to PVR suffered as those flight slots were frozen and remaining fares shot up. This past October it was reported that flight volume was up 24% over last year.

Drug Violence Fears, peaking 2011: As President Calderón took on drug cartels with weapons, national homicide rates went up, peaking in 2011. Violence was mainly between troops and cartels, not in tourist areas (excepting Acapulco), the sensationalist press again kicked in constantly asking if it was safe to travel to Mexico in general. As this report by the Justice in Mexico project shows, violence in Mexico is average for Latin America, but press coverage of violence in Mexico is much higher than for other countries. The homicide rate for Puerto Vallarta is lower than most US destinations and does not include tourists. While parts of Mexico still have problems, the reality that tourists are safe in tourist destinations is finally being recognized, as this Google trends chart of searches on "Mexico violence" has fallen back to levels before the 2009.

Finally this season, things are getting back to normal, PV is promoting its gay tourism and that's showing up in gay travel. A new article in the Dallas Voice just proclaimed Puerto Vallarta "vibrant, warm... and very gay-friendly with growing popularity." Gaycities.com's voters just named Puerto Vallarta "the best gay beach destination of 2014." And 2014 was called "One of the best years for tourism" by the Puerto Vallarta tourism board. Google Trends shows that searches for "Gay Puerto Vallarta" are back to "pre-whammy" levels, although we still have a way to go to get back to pre-recession levels.

Signs point to a continued Renaissance as more gay honeymooners descend on our town, and construction of new buildings and attractions begins again. It's no wonder we have record occupancy at Casa Cupula. Come and join in the fun and see what it's all about.

As one of the world’s finest resort hotels for gay men, lesbians and friends, Casa Cupula has built a reputation since 2002 for services and luxury equal to any mainstream 5 star resort. The Private Residences at Casa Cupula offers a way to combine the best of both worlds: hotel living with the benefits of vacation home ownership. For more information please visit CasaCupula.com or call 866-352-2511.