The governments of Brazil and Mexico have officially made public holidays and rest days in general for 2021. It is in these days that the Latin American travel industry is betting to recover what it lost with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Like LABS has shown, airlines, operators and travel agencies, and hotels see domestic tourism as the main driver of recovery at the beginning of 2021.
According to El Economista, among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) members, Mexico is one of the countries that grant fewer holidays to its workers, compared to countries such as Australia or France, where they have 30 official days of rest year.
Mexican law only grants nine official holidays, but two of them will not apply in 2021 since one has to do with the holding of ordinary elections, and the other corresponds to the transmission of the Federal Executive Power.
Rest days in Mexico in 2021
- Friday, January 1st: New year;
- Monday, February 1st: For Mexican Constitution Day, actually celebrated on February 5th;
- Monday, March 15th: The birth of Benito Juárez, celebrated on March 21st;
- Saturday, May 1st: Labor’s Day;
- Thursday, September 16th: Independence Day of Mexico;
- Monday, November 15th: Commemoration of the beginning of the Mexican Revolution (November 20th);
- Saturday, December 25th: Christmas.
In Brazil, the list released by the government includes mandatory and optional rest days (subject to company definitions and also state and municipal laws).
In the case of Carnival, it is possible that states and municipalities, which have already postponed the party for the second semester, may set a new date, an exception for 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rest days in Brazil in 2021
- January 1st: New Year (national holiday).
- February 15th and 16th: Carnival: (optional);
- February 17th: the so-called Ash Wednesday, the day after Carnival, optional until 2 pm;
- April 2nd: Passion of the Christ (national holiday);
- April 21st: Tiradentes, alluding to an important historical figure in the struggle for Brazilian independence. (national holiday);
- May 1st: Labor’s Day (national holiday);
- June 3rd: Corpus Christi (optional);
- September 7th: Independence of Brazil (national holiday);
- October 12th: Nossa Senhora Aparecida, the patron saint of Brazil (national holiday);
- October 28th: Day of the Public Servant (holiday only for public servants);
- November 2nd: All Souls’ Day (national holiday);
- November 15th: Proclamation of the Republic (national holiday);
- December 24th: Christmas Eve (optional after 2 pm);
- December 25th: Christmas (national holiday);
- and December 31st: New Year’s Eve (optional after 2 pm).
