In May, the number of international visitors received by Mexico grew 12.43%, but it still remains below the levels of May 2019. In addition, there was a slowdown in the recovery of spending by tourists, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi).
“Regarding the pre-pandemic situation, there is still a significant lag, since the number of visitors in May 2022 was 33.52% lower than those who entered in May 2019,” the BASE Financial Group said in a statement.
In total, 5,163,667 visitors entered Mexico in May, of which 2,985,544 were international tourists.
“The foreign exchange income referring to the total expenditure of international visitors amounted to 2,232.8 million dollars. In May 2021, the amount was 1,591.7 million dollars and in the same month of 2020, 154 million dollars”, indicated the Inegi.
94% of the expenditure was made by international tourists and the rest by travelers who entered and left the country in a single day.
However, although Inegi data indicates a growth of 15.21% in spending, compared to May 2021 and 40.28% compared to the same month in 2019, the real growth was much lower, according to Banco BASE. .
There was “a depreciation of the peso against the dollar of 4.6% between May 2019 and May 2022; and an accumulated inflation of 17.23% in the same period. Taking these two factors into consideration, the increase in total visitor spending between May 2019 and May 2022, measured in real pesos, is only 2.79%.”
In addition, he added that there is a trend towards a slowdown in the recovery of the tourism sector due to the deterioration in the purchasing power of households, high inflation rates and the risk of a recession in the United States.
