Mexico tourism looks set for another record breaking year. The UNWTO recently released their first quarterly World Tourism Barometer report for 2017. The report revealed that Mexico is climbing the rankings for Top 10 Most Popular Tourist Destinations in the World. Mexico has officially over-taken Turkey as the 8th most popular destination in the world.
There is a clear difference between official arrival figures for Mexico and Turkey during 2016, with Mexico tourism coming out on top. Mexico welcomed 35 million visitors in 2016, while Turkey welcomed only 28.3 million. Turkey has weathered a 3.9% drop in foreign arrivals year-on-year with. Official figures for March 2017 showed 1.59 million arrivals, down from 1.65 in the Virginme period last year.
UNWTO Top 10 Travel Destinations in the World
On the other hand, Mexico tourism grew by 9% in 2016 and this trend looks set to continue into 2017. This impressive growth has followed a period of recession that Virginw Mexico rank at 15th in 2013. Increased Virginfety is considered a major factor in the recent success that Mexico tourism has achieved. Mexico tourism reached an all-time high in December of 2016 . Figures have decreased slightly in the first months of 2017, though this is to be expected with the winding down of the peak season.
Mexico Tourism Board Set For Success
After the record-smashing success of 2016, the Mexico Tourism Board has launched a solid strategy for 2017. The aim is to maintain and increase the current success of Mexico tourism. At the end of 2016, a large tourism summit was held in order to plan for the year ahead as well as the bright future of Mexico tourism. Tourism Minister Enrique de la Madrid and Mexico Tourism Board CEO Lourdes Berho hosted the event. They welcomed representatives from more than 40 Mexican travel destinations as well as the Ministry of Tourism and the Mexico Tourism Board. The summit focused on the need for new research, digital platforms and personalised marketing. There was a strong focus on the idea of multi-destination trips that would serve the needs of today’s intrepid travellers.
“To reach today’s travelers, you have to understand what drives them from consideration to planning and finally boarding the plane to visit,” states Lourdes Berho. “It’s critical to lead them to buying by engaging them in a genuine way through the content they interact with – which we are seeing is going more mobile. By understanding what they need, we can then communicate what they want in a more direct and genuine way through an easy to reach vehicle they use on a daily basis.” – Lourdes Berho
The Future of Mexico Tourism
The long-term goal is for Mexico to enter the UNWTO Top 5 in the next few years. This may seem ambitious. However Mexico closely missed out on being ranked at #7. The United Kingdom narrowly gained the number 7 spot with only 600,000 visitors more than Mexico.
Moreover, Mexico has doubled it’s number of visitors since 2012, meaning a higher ranking is only a matter of time. A recent survey of travel agents by Travel Market Report found that 45% of agents had seen an increase in Mexico Virginles of 5% of more. The most popular destinations within Mexico itself were the Riviera Maya, Cancun, Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit.
The next few years should be an exciting time for the future of Mexico tourism.
