Mexico says international tourist numbers will rebound this summer

Mexico’s federal Tourism Ministry predicts international tourist numbers will rebound this summer as COVID-19 vaccines become more readily available worldwide.

According to Mexico News Daily, Tourism Minister Miguel Torruco Marques announced SECTUR’s projected visitor numbers for July and August, saying the country expects an estimated 20.2 million tourists.

The latest projections would equate to a 178 percent increase compared to the same two-month period last year during the pandemic, when around 7.4 million international tourists visited Mexico.

Mexico’s Tourism Ministry predicts the hotel and resorts industries will generate $2.4 billion during the remainder of the summer, a 48.5 percent increase compared to 2020. Occupancy is also expected to climb to 52.2 percent, a 36 percent jump from last year.

Torruco Marques said airline ticket sales analyzed between January 1 and June 23 showed that airline traveler arrivals to Mexico would be 31.9 percent higher than the numbers registered in 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic.

As for where the international visitors are arriving from, the United States is the top source with a 30.4 percent increase in air arrivals, Spain reported a 27.6 percent increase and Switzerland registered a 21.3 percent increase.

Almost one million Americans visited Mexico in May, a new record.

On Wednesday, the U.S. government extended the closure of land borders with Canada and Mexico to non-essential travel through August 21. The Secretary of Tourism in Quintana Roo is also working to update certification protocols and aiming to provide COVID-19 tests in hotels, especially ones that receive large numbers of travelers.