On the second day of activities of the Operation Toca Puertas tour in the People’s Republic of China, the Secretary of Tourism of Mexico Miguel Torruco Marqués, together with the ambassador of Mexico to this country Mr. Jesús Seade Kuri, held an important working meeting with the top managers of the airline Hainan Airlines, with the purpose of strengthening air connectivity between the two nations, and thus boosting tourism and economic spill in Mexico.
Accompanied also by the Secretary of Tourism of Baja California, Miguel Aguíñiga Rodríguez, and businessmen in the field, the head of the Secretariat of Tourism (Sectur) spoke with the president of the airline Zhu Tao; the CEO Yu Chaojie; the commercial vice president Li Dianchun; among other managers of the airline.
It was reported that on Friday, July 12, Hainan Airlines resumes connectivity to Mexico, with the Beijing-Tijuana-CDMX route, which will have two weekly frequencies, and in this way both capitals will be connected.
“Mexico and the Republic of China are strategic partners. Our relationship is linked by strong cultural and commercial ties and tourism is no exception. Thousands of visitors travel annually between the two countries,” said the Secretary of Tourism of Mexico.
Tourists arrive in Mexico attracted by its warm beaches, and in Yucatan the favorite place of visitors is 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.
And to China, visitors arrive attracted by its millennial culture, its rich history and the Great Wall of China, one of the New 7 Wonders of the World since July 2007.
He indicated that in 2023 there were no flights between Mexico and the Republic of China, however, the number of tourists from this Asian country has recovered, as well as tourist spending, since 161,316 tourists arrived, which represents 84% more than in 2022; while the economic spill generated by visitors from this nation to Mexico in 2023, was 181 million 634 thousand dollars, 88% more than the previous year.
Torruco Marqués highlighted that with a firm step we are recovering the level of arrivals of tourists from the Republic of China that was 167,000, in 2019; this year marked by the return of two of the three routes we had before the pandemic.
He stressed that from January to May 2024, 84,558 tourists arrived in Mexico by air from the Republic of China, this is 13.2% more than the same period of 2019 and 48.3% more than that recorded from January to May 2023, with this country went from 13 to 12 in the ranking of countries that visit Mexico.
In addition, the economic spill in the first five months of 2024 amounted to $104 million,689 thousand, which represents 34.4% more than in the same period of 2019, and 54.3% more than in January-May 2023.
The Secretary of Tourism of Mexico specified that the current administration is working on the reactivation of air connectivity after the pandemic. He highlighted that, in fact, from 2018 to March of this year, 481 new international air routes to Mexico have been incorporated.
“For all of the above, we must continue working together so that the relationship between the Republic of China and Mexico is strengthened year after year. We have created new tourism products that will contribute to increasing the flow of tourism between our two countries,” he said.
In that sense, he detailed projects such as the Maya Train, a great railway work, with 1,554 km of track, 34 stations and 170 high-impact tourist experiences, which benefits five states of the Mexican Republic; in addition to airports such as the AIFA, which together with the Toluca and the AICM, constitute the Metropolitan Airport System; and the start-up of the Tulum International Airport; which captured the interest of the airline’s managers.
He pointed out that these great works, among others, contribute to diversifying tourist activity in Mexico, for the benefit of the local population.