The Secretary of Tourism of Mexico- Miguel Torruco Marqués- reported that, based on the Foreign Direct Investment Records of the Ministry of Economy, in the first quarter of 2024, Foreign Direct Tourism Investment (IEDT) recorded 469.2 million dollars, equivalent to 2.3% of the Foreign Direct Investment captured in the country; which exceeds 378.3 million dollars raised in the first quarter of 2019.
The head of the Ministry of Tourism (Sectur) specified that, from January to March of this year, the IEDT stands out in the field of apartments and houses furnished with hotel services with 265.7 million dollars, equivalent to 56.6% of the total; and in regular air transport on national airlines with 82 million dollars, this is 17.5% of the IEDT; which together adds up to 74.1% of the total.
Within the IEDT by main classes of economic activity, there are also hotels with other integrated services, with 63.4 million dollars, this is 13.5%; the administration of airports and heliports, with 51.9 million dollars, which represent 11.1%; and the organization of excursions and tour packages for travel agencies, with 6.3 million dollars, which means 1.3% of the total.
The Turimo official pointed out that, the entities that captured the largest flow of IEDT, during the first quarter of 2024 were: Baja California Sur with 161.3 million dollars, that is 34.4% of the total; Mexico City with 144.4 million dollars, which represents 30.8% of the total; Quintana Roo with 74 million dollars, which means 15.8% of the total; Yucatan with 29.5 million dollars, this is 6.3% of the total; and Jalisco, with 22.6 million dollars, which is equivalent to 4.8% of the total.
Torruco Marqués indicated that, during the first quarter of 2024, the countries that reported the largest flow of IEDT were the United States, with 287.9 million dollars, which represents 61.4% of the total; France, with 53.2 million dollars, 11.3% of the total; and Spain 45.9 million dollars, equivalent to 9.8% of the total. Likewise, Canada recorded 33.5 million dollars, that is 7.1% of the total; and of Germany, 3.1 million dollars; being 0.7% of the IEDT from January to March 2024.
It should be noted that, from 1999 to the first quarter of 2024, a Foreign Direct Tourist Investment of 33,37 million dollars was captured, which is equivalent to 4.5% of the country’s Foreign Direct Investment for that period.
In turn, according to UN Tourism (formerly UNWTO) in 2023, Mexico ranked sixth in the world in terms of the number of IEDT projects, with 105 projects.
It should be noted that in Yucatan, there is one of the favorite places of visitors and one of the favorite regions also of investors: Chichén Itza, one of the main archaeological sites of the Mayan culture, which since 2007 has been part of the New 7 Wonders of the World.