Mexico Set to Become Among Top Five International Tourism Destinations by 2018

Mexico Set to Become Among Top Five International Tourism Destinations by 2018

Mexico, Latin America’s second largest economy, is looking to become among the top five international tourism destinations by 2018. Today, Mexico is ranked #10 according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

Most importantly, Mexico is expected to increase by more than 5 percent the number of international arrivals in 2012, to a total of at least 24.6 million foreign tourist visits.

With increased visitors from abroad, the country is also expecting an increase in its rate of hotel occupancy. This year, Mexico will register its highest revenue from tourism on record.

According to a recent MexicoToday article, one of the main themes of the recent Summit in Los Cabos, Mexico was the importance of tourism and international travel to the job market. In the Leaders Declaration at the G20 meeting the significance of tourism on the vital recovery of the world’s economy was highlighted, “we recognise the role of travel and tourism as a vehicle for job creation, economic growth and development, and, while recognising the sovereign right of States to control the entry of foreign nationals, we will work towards developing travel facilitation initiatives in support of job creation, quality work, poverty reduction and global growth.”

At the same Summit, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) advocated this link between economic recovery and tourism. The tourism sector of the economy can create countless employment prospects for individuals and can spur a significant amount of growth in the GDP of the G20 countries in question.