Mexico recorded a 6.24% increase in international tourist numbers compared to last year, as the country continues to benefit from a rebound in global travel demand after the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to data by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), Mexico received 21.8 million international tourists in the first half of the year, compared to the 20.4 million during the first six months of 2023.
Tourism spending also went up by 7.7%, reaching US $17.5 billion. This figure surpassed pre-pandemic numbers by 34.6% when tourism spending reached US $13.01 billion in the first six months of 2019.
The INEGI reported that while tourism numbers increased in its annual comparison, they are 1.07% below pre-pandemic figures, when Mexico registered 22 million international visitors in the first six months of 2019.
However, in other ways the tourism industry has already grown beyond its pre-pandemic numbers. From January to November 2023, 108 million people flew in Mexico on national and international flights — almost 20% more than in 2019.
Air travel numbers remained strong in 2024. The Tourism Ministry (Sectur) reported that the first six months of the year saw 11.9 million travelers enter Mexico via air. That is 4.9% more than 2023 and 18.6% more than the same period of 2019, before the pandemic.
The three countries that exported more travelers to Mexico in the first half of the year include the United States, Canada and Colombia, which represent 79.5% of the market share.
The U.S. saw 7.61 million tourists travel to Mexico in the first half of 2024, up 7% from last year. Meanwhile, Mexico received 1.62 million Canadian tourists, 10% more than in 2023. Finally, the number of Colombians traveling to Mexico reached 312,960 travelers, a 13.1% increase compared to the same period of 2023.
Various nationalities accounted for the remaining 2.46 million tourists, down 1.8% than the figure recorded in the first six months of 2023.
As for the airports that saw the largest numbers of passengers, Cancún came in first with 5.46 million tourists and a surge of 3.3% compared to 2023. Next came Mexico City, with 2.11 million tourists and a decrease of 0.3%. Los Cabos, in third place, saw 1.25 million passengers and an increase of 0.1%.
The rest of the airports with international operations recorded the remaining 3.15 million international passengers, 14.4% more compared to the first six months of 2023.
Sectur aims to end this year with 55.3 million international tourists and US $31.6 billion in tourism spending.
With reports from La Jornada and Infobae
