In the last months, we’ve heard of exponential growth in the number of visitors coming to de Cancun Airport. Sectur, the government secretary of tourism, just realise their 2021-2022 tourism report, and the results validate all news about increasing flights to Cancun. The surpassing of expectations for 2022 makes us think of new expectations for 2023. Keep on reading this 2022 Mexico Tourism Report to find out more detailed information…
Global tourism
Up to this date, the total number of international tourists in the world showed a gradual recovery to close at 426.9 million tourists. This is, 21.7 million additional to those registered in 2020. In addition, the first quarter of 2022 confirms this trend by showing a more than 50% increase in international travel compared to the first quarter of 2021.
During the pandemic, the WTO classified Mexico as one of the most vulnerable countries to be affected. Due to the 8.5% weight that tourism has in the economy, measured by its share in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP); the North American region, Mexico is the country whose tourism performance has been least affected. Comparing the first four months of 2022 against 2019, it presents an accumulated reduction of 21%. The corresponding reduction for the USA is 56% and for Canada 61%. In fact, Mexico was well below the global average reduction of 44%, as estimated by the organization.
Mexico’s tourism
We’ve written about how Cancun Airport has been surpassing everybody’s expectations regarding this topic. Between January and July 2022, Cancun captured 46.9% of the total number of foreign tourists arriving in Mexico. On the other hand, Mexico City has only been able to capture 19.5%. This is no surprise as Cancun Airport was recently awarded the Leading Airport in Mexico and Central America fin 2022.
In the first half of 2022, Cancun International Airport (CUN), Mexico City International Airport (AICM), and Los Cabos were the airports that received the highest number of international tourists, with 9 million 420 thousand, which is 71.8% more than in 2021; also surpassing 4% the arrivals of 2019, when 9 million 53 thousand tourists arrived.
The secretary of tourism informed that between January and July of this year, the arrival of passengers on international flights to Mexico was 14 million 501 thousand 727. North America represented 76.9% with 11 million 152 thousand 5 passengers. Next was the Caribbean, Central, and South America with 1 million 935 thousand 712 passengers, representing 13.3%. From Europe, 1 million 376 thousand 856 passengers, or 9.5% of the total. Tourists from Asia were 37 thousand 154 passengers, with 0.3% of the whole international passengers, as reported by Quintana Roo.
Cruise ship tourism in Mexico
As of June 2021, cruise activity in Mexico was reactivated, given that, from April 2020 to May 2021. It was suspended worldwide as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Between September 2021 and May 2022, the number of cruise ship passengers amounted to 4.3 million people. The main outbound tourist markets to Mexico were the USA, Canada, Colombia, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Spain, France, Argentina, Germany, and Peru. In all cases, the figures were much higher than those for the same period in the previous year. Canada, the United Kingdom, and Peru also reported the highest growth rates were recorded in
During the same period, the five main ports in the country that presented activity in cruise ship arrivals were:
Cozumel, Quintana Roo (42.1%)
Majahual, Quintana Roo (22.1%)
Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur (9.2%)
Ensenada, Baja California (8.4%)
Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco (7.5%)
Which together represent 89.3% of the national total.
Finishing the year strong
Considering the favorable results recorded as of the first quarter of 2022 in the travelers’ survey, by the end of the year 2022, it is expected that tourism in Mexico will reach a significant level of recovery. The data for the last quarter of 2021 was provided by the Quarterly Indicator of Tourism Activity published by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) on May 5.
In comparison to the numbers in the first half of 2022, the Tourism Promotion Council of Quintana Roo (CPTQ), headed by Dario Flota Ocampo, shared positive numbers on the growth of air connectivity in the Mexican Caribbean. For the period from September 2022 to February 2023, 9.2 million seats are programmed in Cancun Airport, 38% more than in the same period three years ago.
Expectations for the end of 2022
- Lodging
Average annual hotel occupancy is expected to reach 54.4%, for an estimated 12.7 percentage points above 2021. Additionally, by 2022, lodging by digital booking platforms, known as shared economy, is estimated to be 11 million annual room nights offered, or 6.2% of the hotel supply, which will contribute 2.7 percentage points to occupancy.
- Tourism Consumption
An increase of 13.2% is considered with respect to 2021, to reach the figure of 151,069 million dollars. Lodging consumption is estimated at 13,755 million dollars, with an increase of 17.5%.
- International Tourist Arrivals in Mexico
The arrival of 42.1 million international tourists is expected, 10.2 million more than in 2021, with an increase of 32.1%.