The head of the Ministry of Tourism (Sectur) reported that, based on the results of the International Traveler Surveys, published by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), in the period January-November 2024, the arrival of 77.4 million international visitors was recorded, 15.6 percent more than what was captured in 2023.
He added that foreign exchange earnings from international visitors also increased compared to 2023 and 2019, reaching 29,253.8 million dollars, 7.2 percent and 32.4 percent more, respectively.
He also announced that during January-November 2024, 40.2 million international tourists entered the country, 7.7 percent more than in 2023.
Rodríguez Zamora pointed out that the above is unequivocal evidence that the transformation in the country continues to yield results and we will take the corresponding actions so that Mexico continues to consolidate itself as a sustainable tourism power, in accordance with the instructions of President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo.
He also thanked the president for her confidence in tourism as a fundamental tool for generating jobs, bringing well-being to all Mexicans, and thus achieving shared prosperity for all members of the tourism sector's production chain, in particular, indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples, as well as resident communities.
The head of Sectur highlighted that, from January to November 2024, 20.7 million inbound tourists arrived by air, 1.7 percent more compared to 2023, and 17.5 percent more inbound tourists by air captured in the same period of 2019.
He added that the average expenditure of inbound tourists by air from January to November 2024 was 1,161.3 dollars, 3.1 percent more compared to 2023 and 15.4 percent more than the average expenditure recorded in the same period in 2019.
He said that in the first eleven months of 2024, the balance of international visitors was 19,117.8 million dollars, 0.5 percent more than what was recorded in 2023 and 45.3 percent more than the balance collected in the same period of 2019.
He assured that during January-November 2024, 8 million 794 thousand cruise passengers arrived at the different ports of Mexico, 11.3 percent more than the figure registered in the same period of 2019 and stated that the income of foreign currency from cruise ship passengers amounted to 747.4 million dollars, 12.9 percent more compared to 2023 and 35.6 percent more than the amount collected in the same period of 2019.
Rodríguez Zamora recalled that, in 2023, the Gross Domestic Product of Tourism (GDP) amounted to 2 trillion 582 thousand 001 million pesos, with a growth rate of 4.4 percent, compared to 2022, a figure higher than the growth of the total national GDP, which increased by 3.2 percent; and highlighted that the participation of the GDP within the national GDP was 8.6 percent.
In this regard, he mentioned that, during the third quarter of 2024, 4 million 902 thousand people were employed in the tourism sector, which represents 9.1 percent of total national employment and an increase of 2.9 percent and 11.9 percent compared to the same period in 2023 and 2019, respectively.
He praised that, according to the Center for Tourism Research and Competitiveness of the Anáhuac University of Mexico, 5.1 million Mexicans escaped poverty from 2018 to 2022, of which almost 490 thousand were due to tourism activity, that is, 9.7%.
Source: SECTUR