With almost 1.9 million visitors this summer, Quintana Roo has seen a strong recovery in the tourism sector. (Cuartoscuro)
Quintana Roo maintained its position as one of Mexico’s most popular tourist destinations with a reported 1.87 million overnight visitors during summer vacation, a figure up 3.9% from last year.
Cancún was by far the most popular destination, receiving 613,193 of the state’s 1,877,546 summer visitors – a 6.1% increase from 2022 – according to data from the state Tourism Ministry (Sedetur).
Tourists flocked to Quintana Roo for its popular beaches and world-class tourism facilities. (Elizabeth Ruiz/Cuartoscuro)
Other key destinations included the Riviera Maya with 397,384 visitors (up 0.3%), including Playa del Carmen with 172,259 (up 3.4%) and Tulum with 167,055 (up 0.8%).
Notable increases were also seen in Costa Mujeres (up 6.1% to 102,997 visitors), state capital Chetumal (up 9.7% to 101,236), Puerto Morelos (up 5.6% to 92,611), Holbox (up 5.3% to 49,832), Isla Mujeres (up 4.9% to 27,085) and Bacalar (up 7.7% to 22,899).
“We are growing and what we seek is to generate shared prosperity and that tourism success is reflected in well-being for the people of Quintana Roo,” said state Governor Mara Lezama, who stressed that tourists are drawn to the state’s sun, beaches, ecology, gastronomy and high-quality services.
Quintana Roo is also Mexico’s leading cruise ship destination, with over 2.7 million cruise passengers visiting the state in the first eight months of the year. The majority arrived in the Caribbean island of Cozumel, which saw a74% jump in arrivals between the first half of 2022 and the same period of 2023.
The new Maya Train will also help drive further tourism to Quintana Roo when it begins operation later this year. (Cuartoscuro)
The rise in visitors shows that Quintana Roo is playing an important role in the recovery of Mexico’s tourism industry after the COVID-19 pandemic. In March, Tourism Minister Miguel Torruco predicted that Mexico would receive up to40 million tourists in 2023, up 2.7% from 2022, although still 12.6% short of the 45 million record set in 2019.
International tourism in Mexico dropped by nearly half in the pandemic year of 2020, but hasrecovered steadily since then. Cancún airport accounts for the vast majority of international tourist arrivals – 1.64 million in the first two months of 2023, compared to just 670,000 in Mexico City.
Quintana Roo’s tourism industry is also set to benefit from the Maya Train – the new 1,554-kilometer railroad loop on the Yucatán Peninsula, set toopen on Dec. 1 – and the opening of a new international airport in Tulum, also anticipated to begin operations at the end of this year.
The Atzlán Parque Urbano's Ferris wheel lights up a view of the city from Chapultepec Park. (Galo Cañas/Cuartoscuro)
Parque Aztlán, the new amusement park on the site of the former Chapultepec Fair in Mexico City, was scheduled to open on Aug. 30. However, Mexico City Mayor Martí Batres Guadarrama said on Wednesday night that there’s still no confirmed date for the park’s inauguration.
During the lighting ceremony for Aztlán 360, the park’s giant new ferris wheel, Batres added that installation and testing of various rides still need to be performed before the park is ready to open.
The site of the old Chapultepec Fair, with the Quimera rollercoaster, has been replaced with Parque Aztlán. (Cuartoscuro)
At 84 meters tall, Aztlán 360 already lights up Chapultepec Park with more than 218,000 light bulbs. According to Batres, the lights will never turn off.
“With this, we are starting a story that is not going to stop,” Batres said after turning on the ferris wheel’s lights with a crowbar. “[The lights] are going to stay on permanently,” he added.
Aztlán 360 will be an icon of Mexico City, just like the Azteca Stadium or the Torre Latinoamericana, Batres said. It will be “a symbol of culture, recreation and the [park],” he added.
According to José Miguel Bejos, head of Mota-Engil Mexico, the company developing the amusement park, the ferris wheel will serve a double purpose. Aztlán 360 is meant to entertain as an urban icon and to accompany the city during “important celebrations for chilangos” he said, as it will light up with different colors depending on the occasion.
The opening of the new park is highly anticipated by city residents. (Cuartoscuro)
The ferris wheel will have 40 air-conditioned cabins, heating and Bluetooth for listening to music.
During his speech, Batres mentioned another icon that used to stand on the same premises: the Chapultepec Fair roller coaster Quimera, which was in the park for over 50 years.
Built in 1964, the rollercoaster derailed in 2019, causing the deaths of two people and severe injuries in others. Mexico City’s Attorney General’s Office ordered the park’s eviction, and when investigations revealed lack of maintenance to the roller coaster, the city government revoked the concession granted to the fair’s managing company and shuttered the fair.
Two years later, construction of the new amusement park began in the second section of Chapultepec Park. With an investment close to 4 billion pesos (US $227 million), the park will be part of the cultural and recreational corridor of the four sections of Chapultepec Park.
The park, named after the mythical place where the Mexica and other Nahua peoples are said to have come from, will be able to welcome 15,000 people at a time. Unlike the former Chapultepec Fair, entrance will be free of charge, though visitors will have to pay to go on the rides of their choice.
Emirates will offer passengers access to 8 new Mexican destinations via its codeshare agreement with United Airlines. (Emirates)
Emirates will expand its codeshare partnership with United Airlines to include eight new destinations in Mexico in addition to their Mexico City route, which the airline already serves via Barcelona.
Starting from Sept. 14, the Emirati carrier will allow passengers flying to Chicago or Houston from their Dubai hub, to connect onwards with Cancún, Cozumel, Monterrey, Puerto Vallarta, Guadalajara, San José del Cabo, León, and Querétaro via their codeshare agreement with United Airlines.
Emirates offers daily services to Houston and Chicago, where passengers can connect to flights to popular Mexican cities and resorts. (Emirates)
“The newly expanded network of Mexican destinations now available to Emirates customers is expected to be popular amongst customers from the Middle East, India and South Africa, to name a few,” Emirates said in a statement.
“The most frequented destinations for global travelers embarking from points in Mexico include India, Israel, UAE, South Africa and select points in Southeast Asia,” the airline added.
The popular tourist destination of Puerto Vallarta is one of the new destinations in the codeshare agreement. (Deposit photos)
The Dubai-based airline offers daily services to Houston with the Airbus A380, and to Chicago onboard the Boeing 777, where passengers will be able to connect to the new codeshare routes directly.
Besides Emirates’ commercial flight to Mexico City, the freight division of the carrier, Emirates SkyCargo, operates two freighter services in the country to Mexico City and Guadalajara.
Emirates’ expansion in Mexico through its alliance with United comes after legal wrangling with competitor Aeroméxico, which filed a complaint against the airline in 2019 over its Barcelona-Mexico City route, claiming a 2016 agreement between Emirates and the Mexican government was invalid. However, Emirates was allowed to continue operating its Mexico City route.
The president said at the Friday morning press conference that the official announcement will come next week. (Depositphotos)
United States authorities have decided to reinstate Mexico’s Category 1 aviation safety rating, President López Obrador said Friday.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) downgraded Mexico from Category 1 to Category 2 in May 2021 after finding that it wasn’t meeting standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations.
President López Obrador made the announcement at the Friday morning press conference. (lopezobrador.org.mx)
“A Category 2 rating means that the country’s laws or regulations lack the necessary requirements to oversee the country’s air carriers in accordance with minimum international safety standards, or the civil aviation authority is lacking in one or more areas such as technical expertise, trained personnel, recordkeeping, inspection procedures, or resolution of safety concerns,” the FAA said at the time.
The lower rating has prevented Mexican airlines from adding new routes to the United States and has been seen as a barrier to growth at the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA), which opened just north of Mexico City in March 2022.
López Obrador told reporters at his morning news conference that United States Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg had informed Foreign Affairs Minister Alicia Bárcena that the U.S. had decided to restore Mexico’s Category 1 rating.
“It’s good news, they’re going to formalize [the decision] next week. We’re very grateful to the United States Secretary of Transportation and we thank President Biden,” he said.
President López Obrador met with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg in June. (lopezobrador.org.mx)
López Obrador said that Mexico had met all the relevant safety requirements and the U.S. consequently took the decision to reinstate the top-tier rating. He also said that the decision is “a sign that relations are very good” between Mexico and the U.S.
The news that Mexico is set to recover the Category 1 rating comes after officials with the Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC) held discussions with FAA representatives on the audit process that was carried out to assess aviation safety standards at Mexican airports.
The Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation, of which AFAC is part, initially pledged to recover the Category 1 rating within four months of the downgrade.
However, a year after the downgrade, a former executive with AFAC’s predecessor said that Mexico’s aviation authority hadn’t taken any decisive action that would help Mexico regain its Category 1 rating.
The Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) opened in March 2022, and at first seemed to cause confusion for air traffic control at the Mexico City International Airport (AICM). (Gob MX)
No additional resources have been allocated to address the FAA’s concerns, Rogelio Rodríguez said in May 2022, adding that there had been a “chain of systematic failures in the [aviation] sector due to the lack of training of key personnel, such as [air traffic] controllers.”
The International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations said the same month that it appeared that air traffic controllers at the Mexico City International Airport (AICM) had received “little training and support” as to how to direct flights operating in the new airspace configuration precipitated by the opening of AIFA north of the capital.
“The airport is saturated, … there are a lot of operations, there are risks and we want to prevent [mishaps],” he said.
The reduction in hourly flight numbers from 52 to 43 was scheduled to commence in October, but was subsequently postponed to Jan. 8 to prevent a negative impact on travelers using Mexico’s busiest airport during the winter travel season.
Mexico is known for its beaches, its culture and its cuisine, but how about for its international sporting events? (Moisés Pablo/Cuartoscuro)
Mexico is home to some of the world’s most exciting sporting events. From Formula One to the PGA Golf Tour, fans from all over the world flock to Mexico to experience the spectacle.
Aside from the annual competitions, Mexico has hosted two World Cups and will soon see a third one in 2026, when Mexico will host a third time, shared with the United States and Canada.
Mexico City’s iconic Estadio Azteca will play host to a record third FIFA World Cup. (Cuartoscuro)
So, if you’ve traditionally thought of Mexico as a holiday destination only, think again – it is also a sporting one.
Telcel Mexican Open
Acapulco, a city on the Pacific coast, became popular among the rich and famous in the 1960s. It was Mexico’s first international tourist port and its cliff divers at La Quebrada are iconic. The city has also been the setting for a James Bond movie – 1989’s Licence to Kill – and Elvis Presley’s “Fun in Acapulco.”
Since 1993, Acapulco has also been home to one of 13 ATP 500 tournaments held annually across the globe. Taking place between late February and early March the Mexican Open is the fourth-highest tier of annual men’s tennis tournaments.
This year’s Mexican Open champion, Alex de Minaur. (Mexican Open)
The tournament initially took place in Mexico City on clay courts, before shifting to hard courts at the Hotel Fairmont Acapulco Princess (now known as the Hotel Princess Mundo Imperial) in 1998.
Some of the best players in the world have set foot in Acapulco, with Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, and Thomas Muster holding four Mexican Open titles apiece.
PGA Mexico Open and LIV Golf
With nearly 200 golf courses and a year-round warm climate that provides near perfect golfing conditions, it comes as little surprise that major golf tournaments take place in Mexico.
Patrick Cantlay at last year’s Mexican Open. (PGA Mexican Open/X)
Nuevo Vallarta and the Riviera Maya are some of Mexico’s most popular destinations for beachgoers combining lush jungle and extraordinary beaches. With both tournaments happening in some of the country’s most exclusive resorts, visitors can combine the excitement of a top-of-the-class sporting event with a luxurious vacation.
Since 1944, the Mexican Open has been the national open golf tournament of Mexico. In 2022, the tournament became an official event on the PGA Tour with a purse of US $7.3 million and 500 FedEx Cup points for the winner.
Played at the Vidanta Nuevo Vallarta hotel, along the Pacific coast of Jalisco and Nayarit, it is the only PGA Tour tournament in Mexico and Latin America. It usually takes place between March and April.
Rivaling the PGA tour, LIV Golf hosted its first-ever tournament in Latin America at Mayakoba’s El Camaleón Golf course in 2023 – ranked as one of the top courses in Mexico – in the Riviera Maya. World-class golfers, including Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith, and Phil Mickelson, competed for the first-place prize, with Charles Howell III eventually crowned the winner.
Formula 1
Mexico has long been part of the Formula 1 story, but it wasn’t until recently that the need for speed was reignited with the return of the Mexican Grand Prix and the brilliant performance of Checo Pérez – Mexico’s most successful driver of all time.
His recent victory in Jeddah makes for Pérez’s fifth career win. (@redbullracing/Twitter)
The first Mexican Grand Prix was a non-championship race in 1962. Tragically, Mexican driver Ricardo Rodriguez – one of the brothers for whom the circuit is now named – was killed in practice, at just 20 years old.
The following year, the event was added to the official championship and became a mainstay of the calendar until 1970. Crowd trouble forced the cancellation of the race, but it later returned to the championship between 1986 and 1992, when it was once again canceled after the circuit was deemed unsafe. After an extensive renovation of the track to meet the F1 standards, the Mexican Grand Prix came back in 2015 and is still running to this day.
In its latest version, the new track layout has become an icon of modern Formula One by having a track wind through a baseball stadium: the Foro Sol is also used as a concert site.
The event’s unique fiesta vibe saw the race organizers claim the Best Promoter award for four consecutive years from 2015 to 2018. It also won the coveted accolade for Best Live Sporting Event at the 2019 Leaders Sports Awards in London, England.
The Formula 1 audience in Mexico has grown year-on-year thanks in part to “Checomanía,” the phenomenon surrounding Checo Pérez, who’s a 6-time Grand Prix winner and the only Mexican and Latin American driver in the Formula 1 grid.
Guadalajara Open Akron
Paula Badosa at the WTA Guadalajara Open. (WTA)
Taking place from Sept. 17 to 23 this year, Guadalajara will see the second edition of the Akron Guadalajara Open, one of the WTA’s high-level women’s tennis tournaments.
Played on hard courts, the tournament brings a mix of established players and up-and-coming talent. In its first edition last year, the tournament saw players like Maria Sakkari, Victoria Azarenka, and Jessica Pegula, with the latter crowned as the tournament’s winner.
Micky Lawler, president of the WTA Tour, has said that the Mexican crowd understands and appreciates tennis, which is what “excites them the most.”
Guadalajara is the second-biggest city in Mexico. With nearby attractions like the towns of Tlaquepaque, Tequila – yes, the place that saw the birth of the Mexican agave spirit – and the Colonia Americana neighborhood – recently declared Time Out’s coolest neighborhood in the world – Guadalajara makes for a cosmopolitan, cultural, and fun tourist destination.
2026 FIFA World Cup
The biggest prize in football – and the most widely watched sporting event in the world – returns to Mexico in 2026, to a country where passion for soccer bursts in every corner.
The 1986 World Cup saw the controversial “Hand of God,” when Argentina’s Diego Maradona was awarded the winning goal, despite using his hands. (Wikimedia)
Having hosted the 1970 and 1986 events, Mexico will become the first country to host three World Cups.
Taking place in the summer of 2026, the World Cup will be jointly hosted by 16 cities in three countries: the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It will be the largest in FIFA World history.
Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey will be hosting 10 soccer games in Mexico, while Canada will see the same number in Toronto and Vancouver. Meanwhile, the remaining 60 games will be played in the cities of Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Miami, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle in the U.S.
The World Cup is a great opportunity to travel to Mexico and watch a soccer game in one of football’s truly iconic sporting locations: the Azteca Stadium. This stadium witnessed the infamous “The Hand of God” goal and the “Goal of the Century,” both scored by Diego Maradona against England, en route to winning the World Cup.
Renovation of Mexico’s biggest stadium – the eighth-largest in the world – will require an investment of US 1.5 billion and will see the redevelopment of the Santa Úrsula neighborhood of historic Coyoacán.
Coatepec, Veracruz, is known for its high-quality coffee. (Shutterstock)
Coatepec is a Náhuatl word that means The Hill of the Snakes. According to official government websites, there have been excavations in and around Coatepec revealing that the area was originally settled by the Totonac people.
Though there are no ruins open to the public, the town does have around 370 buildings that are considered “historically significant” – many with beautifully painted exteriors – a tree-filled zócalo (square), and several waterfalls nearby.
DGI Copenhagen’s Representation Team at Coatepec, Veracruz. (Joseph Sorrentino)
The heart of the pueblo is the Parque Hidalgo. While sitting in a café across from the park we noticed a group dancing. Though a little unusual, what was really unusual was that they were all blondes. Not something you see every day in Mexico.
Curious, we wandered over. The group of dancers was DGI Copenhagen’s Representation Team, a group of gymnasts from Denmark. “We are visiting Mexico to do shows and teach,” said Julie Lykke, one of the members. They were taking part in a gymnastics festival that was being held in Coatepec and were performing in the park to show people that “gymnastics and dancing are for everyone,” she added. There always seems to be something unexpected happening – no matter where you go – in Mexico.
Coatepec: coffee capital of Mexico
There’s a kiosk in the park with a café that’s a great spot to sip coffee. Nearby is a small monument honoring María Enriqueta Camarill y Roa de Pereyra, a writer who was born in Coatepec and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in 1951. Around the perimeter of the park, you’ll find many small carts offering snacks, ice cream, and souvenirs.
Coffee fields in Coatepec, Veracruz. (Shutterstock)
Across from the park is the beautiful Parroquia de San Jerónimo. The church was founded by the Franciscans in 1684, but it wasn’t until 1806 that its construction was finished. Inside, there are several statues of saints and virgins, including Nuestra Señora del Café. In early November, during the coffee harvest, there’s a fiesta and mass honoring her.
A half block from the park is Robertina la Casa de Chocolate, a shop featuring over 150 types of chocolates, including ones with macadamia nuts, coffee, pistachios, and even one made with mole.
“The chocolate comes from Comalcalco, Tabasco,” said Javier Quitano, one of the employees. “All of the chocolates are made here in the pueblo. It is a family business started fifteen years ago by Coatepecanos (people from Coatepec).” Quitano was eager to dole out sample after sample of the chocolates, which we were very happy to accept.
Although generally known for its coffee, Coatepec is also famous for its orchids and holds a second title: Mexico’s Orchid Capital. A trip to the Museo de Orquídeas is a must.
“There are 1,400 species of orchids in Mexico and 315 in Veracruz,” said Carlos Montaño Gracia, a museum guide. “Worldwide, there are 25,000 species.” The museum’s large room has walls, trees, and stands covered with orchids – 5,000 in total from 3,000 species. I asked Elias Hernández, another guide at the museum, why he thought people should visit Coatepec. “For its history, food, and customs,” he said. “But the best reason to visit Coatepec is [to see] the orchids.”
Can’t leave without trying a pambazo
On the second floor of the museum is a rooftop café named Mr. Pombacho which offers a lovely view of the pueblo and the surrounding mountains. It was there, at Mr. Pombacho, that we first tried a pambazo, a local sandwich. “We offer seven types of pambazos,” said Habid Ocotla, the owner, including pork, chicken, and a couple of vegetarian options. “We only use bread from local bakeries because they have the exact size and consistency we want.”
We bumped into Hernandez on the way out and mentioned we were looking for a bakery to buy some rolls. He pointed us toward El Rezobado, the oldest bakery in town, located a couple of blocks away.
Traditional bakery in Coatepec, Veracruz.(Joseph Sorrentino)
Walking into the bakery is like walking into the past. Two large, dimly lit rooms with huge wood-burning stoves crank out hundreds of cookies, rolls, and pastries a day.
“The bakery opened in 1883,” said Oswaldo Ruiz, a family member overseeing operations that day. “Six or eight generations have worked here.” The bakery is open from 4:30 in the morning until 11 at night. “But we only bake at 11 and 12 during the day and 6 and 8 at night,” he said. We arrived just before 11 a.m. and the place quickly filled with people buying freshly baked goods.
There’s also Mole Museum, which is billed as the only one dedicated to mole in all of Mexico. It’s just one small room and, if you know nothing at all about mole’s history, it’s worth the $50 pesos to enter. They do sell several types of mole and there’s a restaurant attached.
Torito: The flavor of Veracruz
A popular, and mildly alcoholic, drink in Veracruz is called torito and it’s sold in stores around Coatepec. This traditional drink was born in Veracruz in the 1800s when sugar cane workers mixed alcohol with a variety of fruits. Supposedly, after drinking it, workers felt like toritos: little bulls. Today, the drink is made with milk and, at least in stores owned by Vainimex, it comes in seven flavors including peanut, coffee, cajeta, and piñon.
Nature and adventure in Coatepec
Waterfalls is Coatepec, Veracruz. (CC/Koffermejia)
There are five waterfalls near Coatepec and, because we didn’t have a lot of time, we decided to head to Cascada Bola de Oro (Gold Ball Waterfall), which is only about 20 minutes from the town center. Unfortunately, it was a bad decision. After leaving the highway, the road, such as it is, is only partially paved and filled with holes.
When we supposedly arrived at the path that would lead us to the waterfall, we saw nothing that looked like a path. Fortunately, there was a young man who was parked on the road. But, when we told him we wanted to go to the waterfall, he strongly advised us not to go. Not only does the one road leading there require a 4×4, but the area’s also dangerous.
Coatepec is a place we want to visit again. On our next trip, though, we’ll try a different waterfall.
Sitt is optimistic about the climate for business under Mexico's next president, whether that ends up being Claudia Sheinbaum (left) or Xóchitl Gálvez (right). (MND)
Yesterday the eyes of the world were on Mexico as Claudia Sheinbaum was selected to represent Morena in 2024, making it the first time that two women will represent the major parties in a presidential election.
Xóchitl Gálvez and Claudia Sheinbaum, both engineers, both in their early 60s, will most certainly make for a fascinating race next year.
Here are seven interesting facts about female leadership in Mexico today:
While this is the first time that two women represent the major Mexican parties in a presidential election, it is not the first time that women have run for executive office. In fact, the country has had a total of six women candidates in its modern history, including the first in 1982 (Rosario Ibarra de Piedra), and the most recent (Margarita Zavala) in the 2018 elections. And another woman, PRI Senator Beatriz Paredes, was Xóchitl Gálvez’s rival for the Broad Front for Mexico (FAM) candidacy in 2024.
Mexico has made steady progress in women’s representation in politics in the past decades. In the year 2000, only 16% of Mexican lawmakers were women. The National Electoral Institute (INE) began implementing quotas to reduce the gap in gender representation in 2014, and today, the country has achieved gender parity in both chambers of congress. In comparison, 30% of the members of the House of Representatives in the United States are women, and they make up just 25% of the Senate.
Mexico ranks first in the Group of 20 (G20) nations in degree of women’s political representation. For some perspective, the United States Congress ranks 71st in the world in terms of gender parity.
In the legislatures of Mexico’s 32 states, women make up 47% of the lawmakers, which is up 10% since 2018.
Nine of Mexico’s 32 states have a woman governor today, the highest number ever.
Three of the Bank of Mexico’s five board members are women, including the chair.
The first woman chief justice of Mexico’s Supreme Court, Norma Piña, took office this year.
Mexico still has a long way to go in improving women’s lives, and many Mexican women still deal with violence, discrimination and lack of opportunities on a daily basis. But there is reason for optimism with so many women now in positions of political leadership.
Action to further reduce congestion at Mexico City International Airport - the country's busiest - will be delayed until 2024, say authorities. (Carlos Aranda/Unsplash)
A week after a decree was issued to reduce the number of flights at the Mexico City International Airport (AICM) starting in October, the government announced Wednesday that its implementation will be delayed until January 2024.
The reason given was to prevent a negative impact on travelers using Mexico’s busiest airport during the winter travel season.
Facilities at the Mexico City airport are over capacity, warn the government and airlines, although they disagree over the solution. (AICM/Instagram)
The reduction from 52 to 43 flights per hour will now begin on Jan. 8, the first Monday after the country’s Christmas vacation period.
The Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC) announced last week that, starting on Oct. 28, takeoffs and landings per hour at AICM should total no more than 43. The airport’s two runways, taxiways and aprons have become overcrowded, and the terminals have become oversaturated with travelers, AFAC noted.
In response to those issues, the federal government had already enacted a year ago a “temporary” plan that has reduced the number of flights arriving and departing from 61 to 52 per hour.
In light of last week’s announcement, the National Chamber of Air Transport (Canaero), which represents the airlines, went on the offensive, saying the new reduction would bring about “a massive cancellation of flights” and “put the country in an unfavorable situation.”
The new Felipes Ángeles airport (AIFA) has greater capacity than its current traffic, and authorities hope the reduction in flights at AICM will shift traffic to the new airport. (ProtoplasmaKid/Wikimedia)
“The basic problem at AICM is not the capacity of [flights] per hour, but the age of the infrastructure and [its state of] deterioration,” Canaero said in a statement.
Mexico’s Ministry Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (SICT) said this week that the postponement is being made with the aim of supporting travelers and avoiding the cancellation of flights.
Officials said they didn’t want anyone who had already purchased airline tickets for the winter travel season to be affected, and said that “with this resolution, no international flight will be [canceled].”
Earlier this week, the Aviation Pilots Union Association (ASPA) warned that the reduction of operations at AICM would be “disastrous” for commercial aviation and tourism, and “in the worst case, will generate massive layoffs of national workers.”
“With this reduction in operations, which affects only domestic flights, what will come is a cascade of problems: fewer flights and less passenger flow will affect tourism and the Mexican airlines themselves,” ASPA noted.
Like Canaero, ASPA said the root problem at AICM is related to the lack of investment in the infrastructure of Terminals 1 and 2.
The cost of food has remained a major driver of inflation, but the headline rate dropped again last month. (Half Half Travel)
Mexico’s annual headline inflation rate declined for a seventh consecutive month in August to reach its lowest level since February 2021.
The national statistics agency INEGI reported Thursday that the annual headline rate was 4.64% in August, down from 4.79% in July.
Inflation is still above the government target of 3%, according to the National Statistics Agency. (Moisés Pablo/Cuartoscuro)
The annual core inflation rate, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was 6.08%, the lowest level since December 2021.
The headline rate was slightly higher than the forecast of analysts surveyed by Reuters and Citibanamex, while the core rate was slightly lower.
The former rate remains above the Bank of Mexico’s target of 3% inflation, with tolerance for one percentage point in either direction.
The month-over-month increase on the National Consumer Price Index, which measures headline inflation, was 0.55%, INEGI reported.
Robust fiscal policy is taking effect, and curbing the inflation – which is down significantly from 2022. (Gobierno de Mexico)
Headline inflation peaked last year at 8.7% and was just below 8% in January. But high interest rates have helped drive inflation down this year. The central bank’s key rate has been set at a record high 11.25% since March
Andrés Abadia, chief Latin America economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said that the decline in inflation is “thanks to a delayed effect from more restrictive financial conditions” as well as the strong performance of the Mexican pesos in recent months (if not recent days) and lower prices for raw materials.
“Overall, the disinflation story in Mexico is continuing, despite a resilient labor market and solid wage growth,” Abadia said.
The federal government has implemented its own anti-inflation plan in conjunction with the private sector, but whether it has contributed to the steady decline in inflation seen this year is a matter for debate.
INEGI data shows that processed food and fruit and vegetables were among the key drivers of inflation in August.
Processed foods, beverages and tobacco were 8.44% more expensive last month than they were in August 2022, while fruit and vegetable prices were up 8.15% in annual terms.
The cost of non-food goods rose 5.03% from a year earlier, services were 5.15% more expensive, housing was 3.49% dearer and meat prices ticked up by 0.47%.
Energy costs, including those for gasoline and electricity, declined 2.68% compared to August 2022.
The event includes sections dedicated to agave, chocolate, vegan food and more. (Fantastic Ordinary/Unsplash)
Once again, Mexico City’s World Trade Center will be host to one of the country’s premier food and drink industry events, The Gourmet Show, which opens Thursday and runs through Saturday.
Back for its seventeenth edition, this event will offer three days celebrating flavor, separated into different culinary realms: the Gourmet Show, the Wine Room, Agave Fest, Veganauta, Expo Café and Salón Chocolate. In each event area, attendees will find specialized products that range from food items sold directly from producers, to specialized machinery for coffee, pastry making, and restaurant service, as well as publicity services crafted for the food industry.
One of the areas to explore is the Salón Chocolate, with Mexican chocolatiers displaying their wares. (Gourmet Show/X)
Among the many items to be found are national and imported wines, cheese and charcuterie from around the world, spices, condiments, dried and fresh fruit, vegan products, diet products, items low in sodium and even gluten-free options. In attendance will be internationally renowned brands alongside new companies that will use the Gourmet Show as their first launch. A specific section of the Gourmet Show will be dedicated to facilitating business deals among vendors.
At Agave Fest, you’ll find mezcal, tequila, bacanora and other distilled spirits, alongside maguey worms and roasted crickets, special sipping glasses for agave spirits and even clothing made from maguey fiber. Also available for tasting will be other national spirits like sotol, pox, and even whiskey made from blue, red, and yellow corn.
Check out Salón Chocolate to find cacao from across the globe – but expect a particular focus on Mexican chocolate, both for use in cooking and as a standalone treat.
At the culinary presentations attendees are invited to taste, learn about, and buy products at wholesale prices. Experts will be on hand to provide tastings and talks, and to share new items in their industries.
A vendor at the Gourmet Show in Mexico City. (Gourmet Show/X)
Industry professionals, students, businesspeople and the general public are all welcome at The Gourmet Show. The event host, Tradex Exposiciones, expects close to 20,000 people to attend this year’s event at the World Trade Center. Tickets can be purchased on the event website.
Tradex Exposiciones is an international leader in the food industry and has successfully run The Gourmet Show throughout its entire tenure.
The doors of the World Trade Center will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., making for a day-long culinary fiesta. The venue offers parking on the premises and nearby in the neighborhood. You can also arrive by taking Line 1 of the Metrobus to the Poliforum station.
