Banxico data has confirmed that in 2014 Mexico welcomed over 29 million foreign tourists, moving Mexico’s international ranking from 15 to 10 in top worldwide tourist destinations.
Puerto Vallarta, Cancun, Guadalajara, and Mexico City rank among the country’s top recipients of the foreign tourism increase, along with Baja California.
Mexico’s central bank estimates 2014 tourism impacted Mexico’s economy with $16.3 billion dollars, compared to 2009, one of Mexico’s worst tourism years on record with $11.5 billion, a decrease of 13% from the previous year.
Tourism in Mexico is a very large industry. Mexico has been traditionally among the most visited countries in the world according to the World Tourism Organization and it is the most visited country in the Americas, after the United States. The most notable attractions are the Meso-American ruins, cultural festivals, colonial cities, nature reserves and the beach resorts. The nation’s temperate climate and unique culture – a fusion of the European and the Meso-American – make Mexico an attractive destination. The peak tourism seasons in the country are during December and the mid-Summer, with brief surges during the week before Easter and Spring break, when many of the beach resort sites become popular destinations for college students from the United States.
The majority of tourists come to Mexico from the United States and Canada. Other visitors come from Europe and Asia. A small number of tourists also come from other Latin American countries. There is also a burgeoning domestic tourism trade as a growing affluent middle class begins to go on holiday within their own country. While Mexico’s middle/lower class usually promotes national tourism, the middle/higher class usually prefers to travel overseas.
This isn’t Mexico’s first time in the top 10 international travel destinations, however it has fallen off the list for the previous two years as a result of security concerns with tourists.
Banxico data has confirmed that in 2014 Mexico welcomed over 29 million foreign tourists, moving Mexico’s international ranking from 15 to 10 in top . . .
