Tourism Minister Josefina Rodríguez said Tuesday that “there is no insecurity for tourists in Mexico.”
Rodríguez made the comment in anticipation of Madrid’s 2026 International Tourism Fair (FITUR) scheduled for January 2026, at which Mexico will be the guest country of honor.
“A tourist who goes to Mexico is protected, is loved,” she said in a speech from Madrid. “That’s why there has been an increase in foreign tourists to our country.”
The minister’s reassuring words faced headwinds from recent events. The day before her press conference, two visiting musicians from Colombia were found brutally murdered in México state. And in August, the United States issued an alert that warned U.S. citizens not to travel to all but two of Mexico’s states due to the risk of homicide, kidnapping and terrorist violence.
The tourism minister addressed the latter concern by noting that such alerts have been commonplace for many years.
“We are not alarmed; this is not a new alert,” she said. “These alerts have been in place for a long time. There is no insecurity for tourists.”
More tourists continue to choose Mexico
While violent incidents cannot be dismissed, no matter how isolated, the big-picture statistics support Rodríguez’s optimism.
Between January and June this year, Mexico welcomed 47.4 million international visitors, marking a 13.8% increase over the same period in 2024, according to Mexican government figures.
In addition, 7.36 million tourists arrived by air from the U.S., marking a 2.4% rise from the same period last year.
Mexico’s role as co-host in the 2026 FIFA World Cup is expected to contribute to a higher volume of tourism next year, with several matches to be played in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey.
In August, President Claudia Sheinbaum said that the Tourism Ministry aims to establish Mexico as the fifth most-visited country in the world by 2030, from sixth position at present.
“Coming to Spain as a guest country opens a window of opportunity for us to continue positioning ourselves in established markets like Europe,” said Rodríguez. “We want more. We’ve had the same numbers for many years.”
She also said that her ministry wants to encourage a wider knowledge of what Mexico has to offer tourists. “We don’t want them [only] to return to Cancún,” she said. “We’d rather they take [for example] the new Maya Train. We’re going to show the world that Mexico is in fashion.”
Rodríguez had announced in a press statement the day before that the latest version of Mexico’s Tourism Investment Portfolio includes 473 tourism-oriented projects from 26 states, with a total value of US $22 billion.
The minister said the number of projects is 67% higher than those recorded in April, and the largest investments are destined for the states of Nayarit, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco and Quintana Roo.
With reports from El Financiero and Milenio
