The appreciation of the national currency against the dollar made the most popular destinations more expensive, according to Cicotur.
The main Mexican beaches received fewer foreign tourists by air during this summer compared to the same season in 2022.
Between June and September of this year, the airports of Cancún, Cozumel, Huatulco, Los Cabos, La Paz, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán, and Zihuatanejo received a combined 8.9 million international tourists, almost one hundred thousand fewer than those registered in the same period of 2022.
The arrival of international tourists by plane to the country’s beaches decreased in the summer of 2023 | Cuartoscuro
The airports of Cancun, Los Cabos, and Puerto Vallarta, which concentrate two-thirds of the arrival of international tourists to the country, extended the decrease in the flow of these passengers until September. In the case of Mazatlán and La Paz, there were double-digit declines during the four months indicated.
The reasons behind the decline in international travelers to national beaches by air are several, including the strengthening of the peso against the dollar, which has made Mexico more expensive as a destination; as well as the lack of promotion and news about violence in the country, considered Francisco Madrid, director of the Anáhuac Tourism Research and Competitiveness Center (Cicotur).
Likewise, the specialist warned that the reopening of destinations that compete with Mexico was the main cause behind this phenomenon.
“The factor that has the most impact is a return to normality of competition. “Mexico benefited greatly in 2021 and in much of 2022 from the fact that some countries remained closed, had travel restrictions, or even travelers did not feel they were reliable destinations, and gained a lot of market share,” Madrid commented.
The Mexican government’s policy of maintaining open borders led the country to rank third among the 10 most visited nations in 2020, according to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
Mexico’s climb in the ranking was temporary, as accepted by the head of the Ministry of Tourism (Sectur), Miguel Torruco, but the situation experienced in the world as a result of the pandemic encouraged the arrival of foreign travelers to the territory. national.
However, the director of Cicotur said that the issue of the health contingency was left behind and that several countries reopened their borders, which has impacted the country because American tourists, Mexico’s main market, traveled much more to Europe this summer.
Source: OEM
