As of August of this year, the country has lost about 92 billion pesos due to the fall in the arrival of tourists.
As of August of this year, Mexico lost more than 4.6 billion dollars in tourist foreign currency, which, at the average exchange rate of the Bank of Mexico in the first eight months of the year, results in a ‘hole’ of 92 thousand 771 million pesos, this compared to the same period of 2019.
With the foreign exchange that the country has stopped receiving due to the fall in the arrival of international tourists to the country, it would have been possible to build another airport in Santa Lucia, which has an estimated cost of 75 billion pesos, and the government would have more than enough in addition, 17 billion pesos.
In addition, between January and August of this year, Mexico captured a spill from international tourism of just over 11 billion dollars, a figure 29.4 percent lower than that registered in the same period a couple of years ago, according to INEGI figures.
The recovery of international tourists arriving in Mexico continues to improve but is still far from having the levels seen before the pandemic.
August, a figure far from the 3.5 million who vacationed in Mexico, but a couple of years ago.
This result is the second-worst recorded in the last five years, only below the performance of international tourism in 2020, a year marked by the pandemic, the suspension of mobility and the closure of hotels in the country.
Regarding the entry of foreign currency, during August international tourists left a spill of 1,695.4 million dollars, a figure 3.2 percent lower than that reported by the INEGI in the same period of 2019.
Average spending increased 24.6 percent in August, when international tourists who traveled through Mexico spent, on average, $ 611.5, that is, $ 121.5 more than what they spent in August 2019.
For Alejandro Calligaris, country manager of Despegar México, the slower rate of recovery of international tourist arrivals to the country is marked by the sanitary restrictions that some foreign governments still maintain, but also by the seasonality of tourism.
“It is important to consider that the dynamics of tourism has greater mobility in certain seasons of the year given that there are holiday seasons, so this slowdown also responds to the end of the summer in Mexico and the beginning of the low season,” Calligaris told El Financiero.
In the first eight months of the year, Mexico continues to have the United States as its main source market for international tourists with 77.7 percent of all travelers who came to vacation at a national destination by air, this according to the Datatur system of the Secretariat of Tourism.
In total, 6 million 489 thousand 302 Americans traveled to Mexico for tourism between January and August; the second market, the Colombian, barely has 2.7 percent of the total international tourists that entered Mexico in that period, with 224 thousand travelers.
Colombia unseated Canada as the second-largest emitter of tourists to Mexico due to the suspension of flights from the North American country. Calligaris pointed out that, as of September 7, the air connection between Mexico and Canada was reactivated, so that, at the end of the year, greater recovery of international tourism is expected.
“Canada reopened its borders to foreign tourism on September 7 for those who have the complete vaccination scheme and Argentina reopened on September 27 its two mainland border crossings with Brazil and Chile, which will allow greater mobility of tourists foreigners in the coming months ”, warned Despegar’s country manager in the country.
Meanwhile, the Center for Research and Tourism Competitiveness (Cicotur) of the Anahuac University pointed out that, although the monthly arrivals of international tourists slowed in August, in that month there was an increase in the arrival of European and Canadian travelers.
“At the end of the summer season, the recovery trend was maintained, although with a slowdown in August (fall of 13.9 percent) in relation to July (reduction of 6 percent) compared to the same months of 2019,” indicated the Center directed by Francisco Madrid.
Source: elfinanciero.com.mx
