International tourism in Mexico plummeted by almost 50% in January

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Mexico welcomed 49.3% fewer international tourists last January than in the same month of 2020, dropping from almost 3.8 million to about 1.9 million travelers due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) advised on Wednesday, March 10th, that the main decrease, of 62.7%, was seen in tourists arriving by air, who in January last year represented around 1.8 million people and in 2020 only 680,220 travelers.

Land border tourists decreased by 36.7% in January to 1.1 million travelers.

As a result of the health crisis, Mexico lost 59.1% of its foreign exchange income from tourism in January compared to the same month in 2020.

International travelers left US$934 million in the country in the first month of 2021, while in December of the preceding year they spent US$2,281,600.

The average spending per tourist dropped from US$270.94 in January 2020 to US$245.74 in early 2021.

On June 1st, 2020, the so-called “new normal” began in Mexico with a phased and very cautious economic and social opening after two months of a health emergency that paralyzed non-essential activities.

Although the drop in tourism at the start of the year is still very pronounced, the data for the first month are significantly better than the drop of over 60% in July and August 2020, which can be interpreted as a gradual market recovery.

The Mexican tourism industry, which contributes 8.7% to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), will not fully recover before 2023, according to estimates by Tourism Minister Miguel Torruco.

Nevertheless, Mexico was the third most visited country in the world in 2020, according to estimates by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), a temporary phenomenon attributed to the flexible sanitary measures in the country’s tourist areas.

In 2019, Mexico cemented its position as one of the 10 most visited countries in the world with more than 45 million international tourists, who spent US$24,563,000, an annual growth of 9%.