- Note: As of the afternoon of January 13 when this article was published, the government has yet to make an official statement on this topic, so information is subject to change.
What does this mean? At 2am on February 1, the entire state of Quintana Roo will set its clocks ahead 1 hour (to 3am). From there, the state will not change times at any point during the year. Essentially, the state will be on Daylight Savings Time all year.
The state of Quintana Roo will no longer move its clocks back or ahead during the year, and it will have 1 hour later of sunlight during the winter months. Those who support the change say that the state will see economic benefits because tourists will be able to spend more peak afternoon time enjoying the beaches and parks of popular travel destinations like Cancun and the Riviera Maya. It currently gets dark around 5:30 pm, meaning less tourist activity in these areas.
According to federal government sources, the time change will also improve airline connectivity with various hubs in the United States and some provinces in Canada. Cities with high levels of potential tourists like Chicago, Atlanta, New York City and Miami will especially have better airline connectivity. The new time zone for Quintana Roo will also lead to a reduction in wait times for connecting flights thanks to identical times to 8 Canadian airports and 22 US airports.
