PUERTO VALLARTA (PVDN) – In the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, tourism specialists anticipated a decline in the tourist boom in Mexico as global competition increases. Current data indicate that these projections are coming true as Mexico observes a decrease in the flow of foreign tourists, with Puerto Vallarta reporting a slowdown in air tourism.
According to a recent report by Grupo Empresarial Estrategia (Gemes), the Mexican tourism industry should be concerned about the significant decrease in tourists arriving from major source markets. The decline isn’t limited to the United States, Colombia, and Brazil; the list of countries seeing a drop in tourism to Mexico is growing, with notable reductions in tourists from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Poland, Israel, Russia, and Switzerland.
Even markets not yet in the red for Mexico, such as Spain, Germany, and Ecuador, are showing signs of a slowdown.
Gemes underlines that British tourism to Mexico fell by 13% in the first four months of 2023 compared to the same period in 2019. Meanwhile, Spanish tourism contracted by 13.5% monthly compared to 2022 and is 5.6% less compared to 2019.
The Gemes report specifies that the lack of a strategy focused on solving insecurity problems, the absence of international promotion, and the poor treatment of tourists at Mexican immigration stations are negatively impacting the national tourism industry.
Despite the general decline, specific destinations like Puerto Vallarta, Cancun, and Los Cabos are still seeing relatively good results. However, after four months of steady growth, the Puerto Vallarta International Airport reported that May saw just a 1 percent increase. In Cancun and Quintana Roo, hotels are experiencing a drop in reservations and are resorting to aggressive promotions to compensate for the reduced volume of tourists.
