Matt KendallTrump’s anti-immigration rhetoric, confusing travel bans, and “extreme” vetting practices on the border have dampened Mexico’s interest in U.S. tourism–and by quite a substantial margin.
According to research firm Tourism Economics, experts have predicted 7% less visits to the U.S. from Mexico this year, equating to a $1.6 billion loss in direct economic spending by 2018.
Mexico accounted for around 18.4 million visits to the U.S. in 2015, making it the second-largest inbound tourism market for the nation.
This has been great news for Canada, which enacted a visa-free travel policy in December, resulting in an increase of 82% in Mexican visitors.
Ever since the policy was first announced in June 2016, Mexican tourism to Canada has been increasing 16%.
It is interesting the different picture you get when someone else slices the bread.
Granted the USA may loose 1.6 Billion in Mexican tourist trade and they save
$40 Billion on the “tourists” that refuse to leave.
Sorry – what? It is a fact that the U.S. has lost 1.5 B in tourism revenue because people like me prefer to go to Canada or Europe. However – Mexico as usually welcomes American tourists. What is the 40 billion you are talking about? What are the “tourists” that refuse to leave?
Hi Enrique, thanks for your comment. The information used for this article was gathered from Tourism Economics, a travel trend predicting firm. The company predicted 7% less visits to the U.S. from Mexico this year, which will equate to a $1.6 billion loss in direct economic spending by 2018. I hope that clarifies it.