As you might expect, tourism is a very important part of the Mexican economy. The direct economic impact estimated by Mexico’s government (INEGI) is over 8% of the country’s GDP. Reports from the World Travel & Tourism Council estimate the combined direct and indirect economic impact at nearly 15% of GDP and suggest that up to 13% of Mexico’s workforce is supported by tourism. What’s even more interesting than the current impact is thinking about how much bigger it could be.
I have written before about how I think Mexico needs to begin to pivot and diversify its economy away from manufacturing and more into areas like tourism, healthcare, and education. If we believe even in small part the projections on the impact coming from AI and robotics, Mexico needs to diversify its economy to account for the potential impact on manufacturing. When looking at the tourism statistics, Mexico is clearly on the right track, having received nearly 48 million international tourists in 2025. This represents an increase of 6.1% over 2024 and firmly places the country sixth globally in terms of international tourist arrivals.
But even with those impressive numbers, the growth potential of tourism in Mexico is still massive. For those of you feeling that the country already has too many tourists, let me share some statistics for perspective. First, let’s look at the country’s population divided by the number of foreign tourist arrivals for several of the top tourist countries globally. Spain leads the way with almost two international tourists per resident, followed by France with 1.45, and the UK at 0.6. Mexico comes in at only 0.34. I am not suggesting that Mexico strive for “Spain-like” numbers (and the problems that have come with it), but we see that a doubling of the tourist numbers would still put Mexico nowhere near the ratios of Spain and France.
Next, let’s look at tourist density, measured as the number of international tourist arrivals per year per square mile of land. Spain again leads the pack with 481 tourists per square mile, with France at 476, the U.K. at 447, and Mexico … only 59! Said differently, France, Spain, and the U.K. are all receiving eight times more tourists per square mile than Mexico! Of course, parts of Mexico at times feel overrun with tourists. However, there are still dozens of spots throughout the country that are unknown to the vast majority of international tourists. I am often shocked to find stunningly beautiful places in Mexico with almost no tourists. Don’t get me wrong — part of the charm is precisely because it is not overrun with selfie-taking tourists. Still, there is clearly an opportunity to increase the economic impact for many of these places.
To help better understand what the Mexican government is doing to take advantage of this opportunity, I recently met with the country’s Minister of Tourism, Josefina Rodríguez Zamora. She has been in the role since October 2024, when she was chosen by the newly-elected President Sheinbaum. At only 36 years old, she is the youngest person to ever hold the office. Here are some highlights from our conversation:
1. Josefina is extremely passionate about Mexico’s potential for increased tourism. She is committed to getting the country to fifth place in international tourist arrivals by the end of Sheinbaum’s term.
2. She is looking to increasingly diversify the tourist base to include more arrivals from other countries. Her team recently finished a tourism mission to China to attract more visitors from that country, had a massive presence at the International Tourism Fair in Spain, and has increasingly strengthened ties with European countries and Canada.
3. She is focused on making the Maya Train a success. Her team is working with local communities along the route to help them identify, create, and market the different tourism activities and options that are available.
4. She is (obviously) excited about Mexico co-hosting the World Cup. In addition to the direct economic impact on the three host cities (GDL, CDMX, MTY), she also sees opportunities for fans to get out and discover other parts of the country. To help facilitate this, the Minister of Tourism has even created a special app called “Mexico Invita.”
5. Her team is working hard to inspire tourists to go beyond the well-known tourist areas of Cancún, Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta and increasingly discover more parts of the country. She mentioned the states of Guerrero (Acapulco, Ixtapa), Oaxaca (Oaxaca City, Huatulco, Puerto Escondido) and San Luis Potosí (SLP City, the Huasteca Potosina) as examples that are perfect examples of states that are increasingly accessible for more tourists.
Tourism, if done right, is a great way to improve the economic prospects of communities across the country. Far too often, the lack of economic opportunities has pushed residents of these communities to leave family and friends behind and move to larger cities in Mexico or leave the country entirely. Tourism investment and tourism inflows enable these communities not only to survive, but thrive in an evolving economy.
The team at Mexico News Daily has worked with Josefina and her team to create a new series of travel articles we are calling “Discover Mexico.” This will be a series of 14 articles and videos, published every two weeks, that will share a less well-traveled part of Mexico. Each article will have maps, article summaries, fun facts, travel tips and a video that will help you learn more about the destination, what to do there and how to get there. Check out the first one debuting Sunday, June 7, on Zacatecas. They can be found in the travel section on our homepage. Hopefully they inspire you to get out and explore some new parts of the country!
Travis Bembenek is the CEO of Mexico News Daily and has been living, working or playing in Mexico for nearly 30 years.
