Travel safety alerts issued by the United States government (US) scared 335,000 international tourists from visiting Mexico within a year and a half, reveals an analysis by the Bank of Mexico (Banxico).
In August 2017, the US State Department updated an alert to its citizens regarding travel and security in Quintana Roo, Baja California Sur, Baja California, Guerrero, Veracruz, Chiapas, and Colima, but in January 2018 it replaced the notice and exempted Cancun, Riviera Maya, Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta, Riviera Nayarit, and Mexico City from any travel advisory.
Analysts of the General Directorate of Economic Research of Banxico estimate that, had the perception of security remained at the levels observed between 2013 and part of 2017, about 335,000 additional international tourists would have arrived in Mexico a year and a half later, between the second half of 2017 and during 2018.
Guadalajara, Mazatlan, Cozumel, and Monterrey would have at least doubled the growth rates observed in international passenger arrivals during this period, according to the regional analysis entitled The effect of the perception of insecurity on international tourism in Mexico, 2008-2018.
The results suggest that a deterioration in the Internet search index on the security environment negatively affects the arrival of passengers at airports in Mexico, particularly from the US, where half of the foreign tourists come from.
