International tourism in Mexico rises 65.1% year-on-year in February

In February 2022, total tourist spending soared 164.7% year-on-year from $799.1 million to $2,115.6 million.

Mexico received 65.1% more international tourists in February than in the same month of 2021, still marked by the coronavirus pandemic, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) reported on Monday.

Mexico went from receiving 1.59 million foreign tourists in February 2021 to 2.62 million in the second month of this year.

However, if the figure is compared to the 3.76 million in the second month of 2020, a substantial drop of about 30.3% is still observed.

The main rebound occurred in tourists arriving by air, which in February 2021 represented just 698,000 people, while in the same month of 2022 there were about 1.78 million travelers, 155.5% more.

Border tourists, on the other hand, fell 5.9% year-on-year in February to 836,474 travelers.

The data reflects the impact of the evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic, a disease that has so far left almost 5.73 million infections and more than 323,000 deaths in Mexico, one of the most affected countries in the world.

In February 2022, total tourist spending soared 164.7% year-on-year from $799.1 million to $2,115.6 million.

If the data from last February is compared with that of the same month of 2020, the current figure is lower by about 220 million dollars.

The average expenditure of each tourist rose year-on-year, going from 235 dollars in February 2021 to 457 dollars in the second month of 2022, 94.5% more.

Significantly, the average tourist spending in February 2022 is even higher by 58.6% compared to the 2020 data, when it was 288.2 dollars.

Mexico had 31.9 million international tourists during 2021, 31.3% more than in 2020.

Foreign exchange income from international visitors was 19,795.6 million dollars.

For this 2022, the Ministry of Tourism (Sectur) estimates the arrival of more than 40 million international tourists.

Mexico’s tourism GDP, which until before the coronavirus health crisis represented 8.6% of the national gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019, closed 2021 at 7.1% and in 2022 it will do so at 8.3%, according to government estimates .

Even so, Mexico was the third most visited country in the world in 2020, a temporary phenomenon that is attributed to flexible health measures in the country’s tourist areas.

Mexico was consolidated in 2019 as one of the 10 most visited countries in the world, with more than 45 million international tourists who left 24,563 million dollars, a growth of 9% per year.