International visitation is up over 13% this year

December 11, 2025

A woman takes a selfie while sitting back to back with a man holding a shade umbrella in front of a Chichén Itzá pyramid in Mexico — Tourists enjoy the view of Chichén Itzá's main pyramid during the fall equinox in September. (Martín Zetina / Cuartoscuro.com)

Almost 80 million international visitors came to Mexico in the first 10 months of 2025, representing a double digit increase compared to the same period of last year.

“Mexico is in fashion,” declared Tourism Minister Josefina Rodríguez before she presented the latest data on international arrivals at President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Thursday morning press conference.

Tourism Minister Josefina Rodríguez shares a slide showing tourism data at a press conference — October was a record-breaking month for visitation, Tourism Minister Josefina Rodríguez said on Thursday. (Saúl López / Presidencia)

Rodríguez reported that Mexico welcomed 79.3 million international visitors between January and October, an increase of 13.6% compared to the same period of 2024.

International visitors refers to tourists who spend at least one night in Mexico as well as day trippers from neighboring countries and cruise ship passengers.

Rodríguez said that 38.4 million international tourists came to Mexico between January and October, an annual increase of 5.8%, while 8.9 million cruise ship passengers visited the country, up 11.8% compared to the first 10 months of last year.

Mexico was the world’s sixth most visited country in 2024, behind France, Spain, the United States, Turkey and Italy.

Rodríguez also reported that international visitors contributed US $28.2 billion to the Mexican economy between January and October, 6.5% more than in the same period of 2024.

She said that the “strength of the tourism indicators” reflect not just the growth of Mexico’s tourism industry, but also “international confidence in Mexico, its stability and the vision promoted by the government of Mexico.”

“… Every [percentage] point that we advance in the arrival of visitors … [and] in [the entry of] foreign currency is a clear sign that the country is on the right path,” Rodríguez said.

A record-breaking October

Rodríguez said that new records were set in October for the number of international visitors and the amount of money they spent in Mexico.

She said that 8.3 million international visitors came to Mexico in October, an annual increase of 10.7%.

Rodríguez described the increase in international visitors’ spending in Mexico as “incredible,” noting that their expenditure of $2.44 billion represented a 9.3% increase compared to October 2024 and a 50.3% spike compared to the same month in 2019, before the COVID pandemic ravaged the Mexican economy — and its tourism industry — in 2020.

Travelers with face masks at the the Mexico City International Airport. — Mexico’s tourism industry has now more than recovered from the economic havoc wreaked by COVID-19 pandemic. (File photo)

The tourism minister also reported that 3.74 million international tourists spent time in Mexico in October, a 0.1% increase compared to the same month of last year.

Air arrivals

Rodríguez reported that 47.98 million people came into Mexico on international flights in the first 10 months of the year, an increase of 1.4% compared to the same period of last year. The figure includes foreign and Mexican passengers.

The tourism minister presented data that showed that the number of Italians entering the country by air between January and October rose 14.8%, the highest increase of any nationality.

According to the data she displayed, the number of Argentinians who came into the country on international flights increased 14.3% annually in the first 10 months of the year, while arrivals were also up from South Korea (+11.6%), Canada (+11.4%), China (+10.6%) and the United States (+0.6%). The U.S. is the largest source country of tourists to Mexico.

Rodríguez also reported that passenger numbers on domestic flights in Mexico increased 3.2% annually between January and October to reach 52.43 million.

Mexico’s top 10 airports

Rodríguez reported that 157.2 million Mexican and foreign passengers used Mexico’s airports in the first 10 months of the year, a 2.5% increase compared to the same period of 2024.