250,000 Jobs Restored in Mexico’s Tourism Industry

The pandemic has affected tourism around the whole world. But while most countries continue to suffer from the effects of various travel restrictions, Mexico is already looking ahead. Between April and June of this year, 250,000 jobs in the tourism industry have already been restored, most of which were lost previously due to the pandemic. Hotels, airlines and travel agencies employed about 3.9 million workers in the second quarter of this year. While this is still far below pre-pandemic levels (4.5 million employees in the same period in 2019) and wages remain low, the developments up until now give reason to be optimistic about the future.

International Tourism Tripled in June

In 2020, Mexico was the third most visited country in the world. Although in 2021 Mexico’s tourist numbers are still 40% below pre-pandemic levels, Los Cabos and Mazatlán for example have more visitors this year than before Covid. According to Mexico’s Tourism Minister, 25.1 million international tourists have visited Mexico so far this year, bringing the country approximately $7.8 billion in foreign exchange earnings. Especially since April this year, the tourism industry has seen a strong recovery.

Few Travel Restrictions Help Tourism Sector Recover

No country in the world has had so little travel restrictions during the pandemic as Mexico. There was deliberately no strict quarantine and international flights to Mexico continued to take place to protect the tourism industry, as it accounts for 8% of Mexico’s GDP. While other countries such as Spain, the United States, or the United Kingdom had a 77%, 75%, or 58% decrease in tourists, Mexico only had about 46% fewer visitors. Therefore, Mexico’s tourism can also recover more easily and achieve similar numbers to what they had before the pandemic.

Due to the few restrictions and its geographic location, Mexico has become an even more popular destination, especially for US Americans. This has also helped the revenues from tourists to return to pre-pandemic levels. Although fewer travelers have visited the country this year than in 2019, average tourist spending per capita increased by almost 60%. By June 2020, foreign exchange inflows from tourism were already 0.1% higher than in June 2019.

 

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