How many tourists came to Cozumel in 2023?

[riceowls]

Not sure how you get that "most passengers are either local going from mainland work or vice versa." Just because they look Mexican to you doesn't mean they are not national tourists day-tripping from Playa, or like you, flew in to Cancun and then ferried to Cozumel. The mid-day ferries are pretty full to be "mostly workers commuting."

I am sorry, I am a numbers guy, and I don't believe even the order of magnitude number of visitors by ferry. If these are to be believed, over 10,000 tourists arrive at Cozumel per day, i.e., over 700 per ferry(assuming 15 a day). Even at full capacity 400/winjet, it does not make sense. I think the correct number of visitors on the ferry is perhaps between 500k-1mil - the same order as planes.

My estimate is that ferries are, on average, only half full, and those that are more full are dominated by commuters.
I've been on many ferries, mainly either early morning or later in the afternoon. The last trip was late afternoon, 5 pm. The ferry was 2/3 full or so. There were on the order of 60-100 folks who came with bags that meant overnight stay and perhaps more than that folks dressed in what looked like a uniform (hotel uniforms, nurse scrubs, etc). The remaining folks may have been tourists with very light packs but likely be locals without clear uniforms.

 

[El Graduado]

I am sorry, I am a numbers guy, and I don't believe even the order of magnitude number of visitors by ferry.

My estimate is that ferries are, on average, only half full, and those that are more full are dominated by commuters.
I've been on many ferries, mainly either early morning or later in the afternoon. The last trip was late afternoon, 5 pm. The ferry was 2/3 full or so. There were on the order of 60-100 folks who came with bags that meant overnight stay and perhaps more than that folks dressed in what looked like a uniform (hotel uniforms, nurse scrubs, etc). The remaining folks may have been tourists with very light packs but likely be locals without clear uniforms.

OK. Don't believe the official numbers. Don't believe in the census count either. Believe in your anecdotal, guesstimated numbers instead. I don't care, it is not my job to convince you. I was just reporting the official ferry passenger numbers as reported by APIQROO, the government agency that oversees the pier operations.

 

[riceowls]

OK. Don't believe the official numbers. Don't believe in the census count either. Believe in your anecdotal, guesstimated numbers instead. I don't care, it is not my job to convince you. I was just reporting the official ferry passenger numbers as reported by APIQROO, the government agency that oversees the pier operations.

I am saying there must be a mistake in these. let's use the data from here
Ferry to Cozumel

There 7x 800-passenger Ultramars and 8x 400-passenger winjets daily. If all running 100% full and all with "visitors"
The total number (7*800+8*400)*365=3.2mil, i.e. less than the official number you quoted.
Now the ferries are not 100% full, and there are many local travelers, but that's anecdotal...

Just compare the number of businesses/traffic, etc., catered to serving cruise ships and compare that with ferry tourists and ask yourself if the numbers can be as close as reported.

 

[Doc Harry]

We went to Cozumel four times during the pandemic, had I had a total of 6 COVID vaccines. I used $5 bills for tips instead of $1 bills. During one trip, downtown San Miguel was all boarded up and we were the ONLY gringos on the street downtown. Heading there again soon!

 

[Nitrogenius]

That averages out to about 24,619 tourists a day, meaning on any given day, more than one-quarter of the people on the island are tourists.

Exactly what I said.. between a qurter and a third on any given day.. Very different from 100 tourist to one local which would be 99% tourists on the island..
but yes also above a quarter on any given day is certainly a lot..
Other touristy places in the world, like NY, Rome etc.. are more at around a tenth of the population on any given day

 

[JFS]

I am not sure about ferry numbers - most passengers are either local going from mainland work or vice versa. Why "two-or-more-trips"? We, for instance, flew to CUN, dove in Cenotes on the first day, and then took the ferry to Cozumel from where we flew home. So we did not count?

Exactly. I travel on the ferry atleast a 100 days every summer between June - Sept