Mexico Tourism Spending Increased This Summer

New data shows that while international visitor arrival numbers in Mexico were down compared to pre-pandemic levels, those who did enter the country in July spent more money than they did in 2019.

According to Mexico News Daily, Mexico’s national statistics agency Inegi announced that an estimated 3.38 million international visitors came to Mexico in July 2021, a 19 percent decline from the 4.16 million foreign arrivals reported during July 2019.

While the overall number of tourists arriving in Mexico was down compared to pre-pandemic levels, the amount spent by travelers totaled $2.12 billion in July, which was a 6.5 percent increase compared to the $1.99 billion spent by international arrivals during the same month in 2019.

Inegi officials said the average spending per tourist was $1,150, a 15 percent increase over July 2019. In total, the Mexican government revealed international tourist numbers were up 143 percent and combined expenditure increased 389 percent in July 2021 compared to July 2020.

Earlier this month, Quintana Roo Governor Carlos Joaquin Gonzalez announced popular destinations like Cancun and Riviera Maya welcomed a higher number of American tourists during the 2021 summer holiday travel season than before the coronavirus pandemic struck.

In August, the Secretariat de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT) announced the five largest carriers in the U.S. transported 2.3 million passengers to and from Mexico in July, the highest on record.