Mexico Expects a Steady Tourism Growth

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) forecasted an interannual growth rate of 3.2% over the next 10 years for Mexico's tourism sector.

This figure is higher than the growth of the total national economy, which is projected to be 2% for the same period.

According to the latest Economic Impact Report (EIR), over the next decade, the tourism sector in Mexico will generate more than 2.7 million new jobs and will experience an increase of almost 43% compared to this year.

Julia Simpson, president and CEO of the WTTC stated, "Mexico's tourism sector has been severely affected by the global health crisis. However, as the national economy begins to recover from the devastating effects of the pandemic, jobs generated by the tourism sector are beginning to increase."

The same report notes that in 2021, Mexico's tourism sector saw a 9.2% increase in employment levels compared to 2020, reaching 6 million jobs, or nearly 11% of the country's total jobs.

By 2022, the study forecasts a 7% increase in employment compared to 2021, with almost 420,000 additional new jobs in Mexico's tourism sector.

In addition, by the end of this same year, more than 190.7 billion dollars to the national GDP is expected. The growth will be more than 13% compared to 2021, and the travel and tourism sector will represent 14.7% of the national economy.

The world body continues to promote collaborative work between companies and authorities. And it also urges governments to remove restrictions and facilitate international mobility, using digital solutions that make it easier for tourists to travel quickly and safely.

The WTTC recognized the importance of the joint work that countries require to achieve more resilient and sustainable destinations, reaching better and more significant tourism development globally and also in the tourism sector in Mexico.

In the face of new global challenges, such as the HIV/AIDS pandemic or phenomena such as global warming, which cause extreme temperatures, no tourist destination has been exempt from having to make changes that guarantee its well-being to a greater extent.

To this end, and through the report Enhancing Resilience to Create Sustainability in Destinations,' created jointly with ICF, the WTTC designed five lines of action on which resilience is fundamental for the proper performance of the global tourism sector. The guidelines outlined in the report are:

- Environmental resilience: The ability of a destination to withstand and recover adequately from natural damage. This resilience is essential for beaches, mountains, rivers, and forests as they are crucial tourist destinations, for example, in Mexico's tourism sector.

- Infrastructure resilience: This is directly related to the lodging and transportation sectors, as well as support facilities that allow the tourism economy to function efficiently; this means that destinations must ensure that their infrastructure is safe and effective for travelers. This includes processes for dealing with infrastructural crises, such as evacuation drills.

- Energy resilience: It's the capacity of a destination to guarantee an efficient energy supply. The main objective of this point is to allow the goal to operate smoothly and provide a constant level of service to travelers while ensuring that the exchange of resources does not disadvantage local populations.

- Economic resilience: This is divided into two definitions, one of which refers to the ability of a destination to survive a financial crisis. At the same time, the other focuses on the operating environment of businesses. This point highlights the need for reactive policies, which have arisen due to the impact caused by the recent health pandemic. It is also recommended to implement proactive policies aimed at training to improve economic resilience in the tourism sector in Mexico.

- Social resilience: Focuses on people and entities developing the capacity to cope with environmental, economic, and social problems (threats). This is directly related to ensuring that those who do not belong to the travel and tourism sector are not affected by it. In the event of a crisis, local society's needs should be prioritized, thus avoiding "resistance" to tourism.

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