The price of this market report covers 4 quarterly reports on this sector. This quarterly report will be downloadable instantly as a PDF document, with the 3 remaining reports delivered at regular intervals throughout the year.

In 2011 Data released by Secretaría de Turismo (Ministry of Tourism, Sectur) in December 2011 showed that tourism continued to grow throughout the year. Tourist arrivals between January and September rose by 2% year-on-year (y-o-y), totalling 16.7mn. This was in line with growth earlier in the year, with monthly arrival figures growing by 1-4%. However, it suggests that full-year 2011 growth will be below the 4.4% y-o-y level seen in 2010, suggesting that the tourist industrys recovery is not yet well established. This partly 2010 figures reflected a rebound from a decline of 4.9% y-o-y in 2009.

More encouragingly, cross-border tourism (defined as tourists staying one night or less in Mexico) rose by 8.4% y-o-y, suggesting that tourists from the US continue to visit Mexico in large numbers. This is positive given the ongoing economic uncertainty in the US, as well as Mexicos widely publicised security concerns. As such, Mexicos tourist industry looks set to maintain its slow pace of recovery, with BMI estimating tourist arrivals to reach 20.7mn in 2012.

Focus On Tabasco

The southern state of Tabasco is at the base of the Gulf of Mexico, just before it curves round into the Yucatan peninsula. Tabasco is now seeking to attract more long-stay tourists, building on its proximity to transport routes through the Gulf and onwards into southern Mexico. The Mexican government is seeking to build up tourism in Tabasco, with US$100mn invested in loans to small and medium sized tourist enterprises in the state. This is planned to be supplemented by a further US$600mn investment once the new schemes are under way, focusing on marketing and international campaigns to attract new tourists to the state.

Private Investment in Tourism Sector Rises

Private investment in the Mexican tourism sector is growing steadily, indicating that companies are looking beyond the headline issues of public insecurity and the economic slowdown north of the border.

Private sector investment in the industry reached US$3.5bn in 2010, up 19% y-o-y, growing far higher than tourist arrivals. Moreover, between January and September 2011, private investment was up by 5% y-o-y, at US$2.7bn, boding well for full-year investment figures. The states receiving the bulk of investment were Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosi, Morelos, Colima and Tabasco. Moreover, the hotel sector received US$1.3mn of the investment, with leisure at US$80mn.