Mexico tourism industry continues to grow in the first half of 2018. The latest statistics from Mexico’s Secretary of Tourism (Sectur) show growth in foreign tourist arrivals, revenue, and hotel occupancy rates. Moreover, more Mexican travelers visited abroad.
Federal tourism data agency Datatur said that 20.6 million international tourists arrived in Mexican destinations between January and June, up from 19.2 million during the same period in 2017; representing a 7.3% growth.
The revenue generated was almost US $11.6 billion, up 4.3% from $11.1 billion last year.
The increase in tourist arrivals positively affects the hospitality industry. Occupancy rates increased 2.8% in 2018; 40.3 million domestic and foreign tourists booked a hotel room.
While tourist arrivals in Mexico increased, more Mexicans traveled abroad. The statistics shows an increase of 11.4%, from 8.5 million in 2017 to 9.5 million in 2018.
Based on the results of January-June 2018 and considering the first ten countries of residence with the highest volume of air visits to Mexico, it is observed that the countries that showed double-digit growth were Peru with 26.9%, Canada with 15.8 %, Colombia with 13.6% and Argentina with 11.6%.
The Federal Ministry of Tourism reported that Mexico’s Tourism supported 4.13 million jobs in the second quarter of 2018; a historical maximum since 2006 and represented 8.6% of total employment.
The Sectur reported that tourist employment increased 2.5% in the second quarter of 2018 with respect to the same period of 2017, a figure higher than that achieved by national employment, which was 2.0%. This increase means 98 thousand 999 direct jobs.
The Tourism GDP registered a growth of 2% in the first quarter of 2018 compared to the same period of 2017.
