Mexico welcomed more than 45 million international tourists in 2024, the highest figure since 2019, according to a report released on Tuesday by Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi).
Inegi reported that 45.04 million international tourists entered Mexico in 2024, marking a 7.4% increase from almost 41.95 million visitors in 2023. Tourism revenue in 2024 was also 6% higher than the previous year.
The tourism sector attracted almost US $30.25 billion in 2024, with tourists who arrived via plane contributing 90% of this total. Nevertheless, the average spending of international tourists decreased slightly over this period, by around 1.4%.
In 2023, the foreign currency earnings from international visitors between January and November amounted to $27.4 billion — 9.8% more than in the same period of 2022, marking the beginning of a post-pandemic tourism rebound.
The number of visitors arriving by air routes increased slightly in 2024 compared to 2023, by 0.8%.
Cruise tourism arrivals increased by over 10% in 2023, with over 10.15 million visitors arriving by ship. The sector generated around $849 million and contributed heavily to the economies of coastal destinations like Cozumel and Mahahual.
Starting this year, cruise passengers looking to dock in Mexico will need to pay an immigration fee of $42.
2024 end-of-year figures
Almost 4.8 million international tourists entered Mexico in December, marking an increase of 4.3% from the same month in 2023, according to Inegi. In addition, over 4.3 million excursion visitors — those who did not stay overnight on their trip — entered the country.
Around 79.8% of inbound tourists entered by air, a 0.1% decrease from December 2023.
The biggest change was seen in the number of visitors who entered Mexico by car or on foot — around 1.6 million — marking a 13.5% increase over the same month in 2023.
Foreign exchange earnings from tourism expenditure in the final month of 2024 totaled $3.7 billion, a 9% increase over November.
With reports from El Financiero
