Tourism will help drive Mexico’s economic recovery

Article Excerpt

Tourism is an important economic industry in Mexico: pre-pandemic the segment directly accounted for 9% of GDP, and 6% of full-time paid employment. The country is also a prominent global tourist destination, receiving 45 million international visitors in 2019, ranking 6th globally on the number of international visitors. However, tourism in the country was severely curtailed during the pandemic with the number of international tourists falling down to 24 million (a drop of 47%) in 2020 compared to 2019. In the first three months of 2021, the dismal trend continued with international visitors down 54% from the same period in 2019. Tourists spend on average $550 U.S. per arrival, which implies a loss of $12 billion U.S. in tourist revenues in 2020. In a normal year, 75% of Mexico’s international tourists arrive from the U.S. and 2% from Canada. Nevertheless, industry operators are hopeful for a better summer, with government hotel occupancy estimates currently ranging between 49% and 62% for most…