Tourism in Mexico on the upswing

17 May, 2007

The number of tourists visiting Mexico went up in the first quarter of 2007, showing the continued growth of one of the most important income-generating sectors of the country.

The trend has also allayed fears that the new passport requirement imposed on travellers returning from Mexico to the United States would not hurt tourism in Mexico, according to Mexico’s Tourism Secretariat.

Mexico’s international tourism revenues in January, February and March 2007 reached US$3.758 billion, a 14.6% increase compared with the same period in 2006.

In all, 3.6 million tourists from abroad arrived in Mexico during January-March 2007 – a rise of 8.3% compared with the same period the previous year, and 1.2% compared with the first-quarter figures of 2005.

Also, Mexico’s tourism trade balance – which stands at US$1.946 billion – registered a 31.5% increase compared with the US$1.480 billion reported during the first quarter of 2006.

Latest statistics show that the number of international visitors to Mexico travelling in cruise ships increased in 2007, showing that the country has fully recovered from the damage caused to Cozumel – the largest cruise port in Mexico and the western Caribbean – by Hurricane Wilma in late 2005.

Despite the requirement that travellers returning to the United States from Mexico and other Western Hemisphere countries carry a valid passport – which took effect in January 2007 – the number of travellers to Mexico from the United States actually went up compared with 2006.

According to Rodolfo Elizondo, Mexico’s Secretary of Tourism, the rise in the number of tourists demonstrate that requiring a passport has not deterred Americans from travelling to Mexico.