Mexico ranks sixth in tourist destinations, with 39 million tourists, but ranks 15th in destinations that attract the most foreign currency, with 21.3 billion dollars.
The Ministry of Tourism delineated its guiding principles for the next administration, where tourism promotion programs will focus on increasing the number of international visitors, but, above all, spending much more.
“Our goal will be specifically to increase income for foreign tourists because I must reiterate that the tourism potential of a nation is not measured by the number of tourists received but the foreign currency captured and under that concept, we are in the 15th place,” Miguel said. Torruco Marqués, head of the Ministry of Tourism.
According to the world ranking of the World Tourism Organization, Mexico ranks sixth in tourist destinations, with 39 million tourists, but ranks 15th in destinations that attract the most foreign currency, with 21.3 billion dollars.
At a press conference, Torruco said that tourism programs have increased the number of visitors, but not the expense.
The average expenditure of international tourists is 488 dollars, which places the country in the 40th position in this category.
“In 1994 we occupied the seventh potion in international tourism and a very valuable ninth place in attracting foreign currency. According to the 2017 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum, it is ranked 22nd far below the tourist powers such as Spain, which occupies the first place, followed by France, Germany, Japan, and the UK, “Torruco said.
With the support of new dissemination strategies that include new communication technologies, diversification of international tourism will be sought since there is a marked dependence on visitors from the United States and Canada, which represent 72% of the people who arrive in the country.
In this sense, a specific promotion campaign will be implemented with Chinese authorities to increase the flow of visitors from that country.
Torruco said that the Chinese tourist spends on average 3,800 euros per person, which exceeds 2,500 euros for Russian tourism and 1,500 dollars spent by American tourists.
Source: Forbes MX
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