Tourists flock to Mexico

Ignoring gruesome news stories of ongoing drug violence, Mexico for the third consecutive year saw an increase in foreign visitors, government tourism figures out last week showed.

Some 22.6 million foreigners visited Mexico in 2011, just slightly less than the record 23 million in 2008, the office of Tourism Secretary Gloria Guevara said in a statement.

The figure is two per cent higher than 2010, and 5.7 per cent higher than 2009, the statement said.

Tourism is Mexico’s third most important source of hard currency, after oil exports and remittances by Mexicans living abroad.

Foreign tourists last year also spent more money, on average $158 (€121) per day – a seven per cent increase over 2010 figures, which had been the record high.

Mexico’s main source of foreign visitors is the US, which saw a three per cent drop in 2011 compared to the previous year.

However, there was a seven per cent increase in Canadian visitors to 1.7 million, the figures showed.

Mexico saw a 55 per cent increase in visitors from Russia; a 13 per cent increase from Italy; and a 10 per cent increase from France.