Tourism activities decreased about 40 percent during the pandemic, a city official said.

Mexicali Tourism and Conventions Committee Chairman Miguel Angel Torres told La Voz newspaper the activity especially saw a reduction in the fourth wave due to the Omicron variant.

Sales decreased as residents declined to visit tourist centers to avoid contagion, Sanchez said.

Turning the state into the green tier of the epidemiological light system will allow tourist businesses like restaurants and hiking companies to fully reopen although protocol will continue indoors, he said.

In the meantime, restaurants will need personnel due to the tier change.

National Chamber of Restaurants in Mexicali President Raul Vasquez said employees were dismissed when the pandemic first started out.

At the same time, restaurant clientele remained between 50 and 75 percent. Vasquez explained that this time hiring staff will be hard as many former employees had joined other activities.