Tourist Spending Increases in Mexico as Visitors Plateau

The World Tourism Organization ranked Mexico in ninth place in foreign exchange earnings from international tourism, although in five months of 2023, three well-known Mexican beach destinations have reported a drop-off in tourism growth.

Tourism employment in the country continues to recover, however.

The recovery of the main economic indicators of tourism is taking place. Foreign exchange income from international visitors increased 17.5 percent compared to the first four months of 2023 compared to 2019.

The International Travelers Survey of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) published that between January and April 2023, $10.744 billion was recorded, 17 percent more compared to the same period of 2022 and exceeding by 17.5 percent what was captured in the first four-month period of 2019, which was $9.143 billion.

Additionally, tourists entering Mexico by air generated foreign exchange of $9.135 billion dollars between January and April 2023. The increase was 14.6 percent against the same months of 2022 and a rise of 21.6 percent over the $7.514 billion dollars in the first four months of 2019.

The average expenditure of tourists entering the country by air was $1,197.6, a growth of 3.8 percent compared to the same period in 2022 and exceeding by 14 percent the expenditure of $1,501 recorded in the first four months of 2019.

Meanwhile, foreign exchange income from cruise tourism amounted to $306.8 million, representing an increase of 22.3 percent to what was captured in the first four months of 2019, when $250.9 million was recorded.

From January to April 2023, the balance from international visitors was $8.330 billion, 13.1 percent more than what was recorded in the first four months of 2022; it exceeded by 38.7 percent what was captured in 2019.

Beautiful Beaches, Fewer Visitors
In five months of 2023, three of the main Mexican beaches registered a contraction in the number of international tourists received.

That is to say, the deceleration in the number of foreign tourists to Mexico continues, particularly in the international airports of the main beaches: Cancun, Los Cabos, and Puerto Vallarta, which started 2023 with increases of up to 42 percent and by May barely reached 0.5 percent growth compared to the previous year.

Grupo Empresarial Estrategia (Gemes) had already been demonstrating the contraction in the arrival of international tourists to Mexico in 2023; now, with the last comparison to May, this data was ratified.

The Center for Tourism Research and Competitiveness (Cicotur), directed by Francisco Madrid, published the monthly movement of international passengers in airports with a high tourist profile, where it was highlighted that Puerto Vallarta was the beach destination with the greatest deceleration.

Puerto Vallarta
Between January and February 2023, the multi-destination airport, Puerto Vallarta, registered an increase of 42 percent in the movement of international passengers. In May, there was a 0.1 percent increase, according to the quarterly report of Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico (GAP) to the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV).

It went from 255,900 to 256,200 passengers coming from other countries.

Los Cabos
In Los Cabos, the contraction went from 33 percent, as recorded in January, to 0.2 percent last May. The monthly comparison went from 372,900 tourists to 373,500 foreigners arriving by air to the destination, according to the GAP report.

Cancun
The behavior was similar for Cancun regarding the number of air tourists arriving in January; the variation was 40 percent more than in 2022; however, the figure decreased as the year progressed, and for May, it was 0.5 percent compared to the same month of 2022.

In May 2023, 1.597 million international tourists were transported to Cancun’s beaches, and in May 2022, there were 1.589 million, as published by Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (Asur).

The Employment Situation in the Tourism Sector
There are several characteristics that those seeking employment in the tourism sector review: the amount of the salary, temporality, and labor mobility.

Due to the closure of micro, small, and medium-sized companies during the pandemic, employment in the tourism sector has yet to recover, said David Centeno, Deputy Director of Strategic Planning of OCCMundial.

He explained that, although the volume of job offers is maintained, according to figures published by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi), it is still “well below the levels of offers published in 2018;” it is 27 percent less.

“This reflects that it is still not achieved that companies have the vacancies they had previously, and with that, they can meet their original workforce,” Centeno assured.

From January to May of this year, OCC Mundial (an employment dispatch) published that a little more than 5,000 job offers in the tourism, hospitality, and gastronomy sector; when compared to the same period last year, there was a decrease of 0.1 percent of published offers.

Centeno added that the above is in line with what was published by Inegi and replicated by the Ministry of Tourism (Sectur), that in the first quarter of 2023, tourism accounted for 9 percent of national employment with 4.6 million people employed, which represented a growth of almost 2 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2022.

Despite this, Centeno stated that the tourism industry would have two temporary employment-generating periods: summer and winter.

That will cause a 9 percent growth nationally in job offers posted online for the sector compared to the same period in 2022.

“Many small and medium-sized companies have not been able to recover, and we know that these companies are important for the tourism sector; however, the signs are very positive; periods of 2023 are coming that are very good for the tourism sector, and, will dictate the trend for 2024, which we are seeing quite positive,” he assured.

Characteristics of Tourism Employment
In a study conducted by OCCMundial with the Internet Association MX on job search on the Internet, they detected that the salary issue is the first thing a candidate sees when looking for a job.

“Currently, in the offers that we publish in OCC Mundial, we have 42 percent within a salary range of $550 to $1,000, followed by 34 percent between $280 to $550, in salaries over $1,100 are 22 percent of the offers, and finally, those that offer up to $280 are 2 percent of the job offers,” Centeno explained.