Boston, MA -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/01/2013 -- The Mexico Tourism Report examines the enormous long-term potential of the market, given its proximity to the US, but flags up short-term concerns about rising levels of insecurity and the negative image this is sending to potential tourists.

We examines how best to maximise returns in the Mexican tourism market, capitalising on the country's considerable attractions and benefiting from its well established position in the region. The report also assesses the impact of the slow recovery in the US, which is feeding through to affect demand in Mexico. The report also analyses the key domestic and foreign players in the Mexican market and the development strategies they are employing to maximise returns during the economic slowdown.

View Full Report Details and Table of Contents

Key Findings

Official figures released by the Ministry of Tourism (Sectur) in August 2012 show that tourist arrivals to Mexico fell unexpectedly over the first five months of the year. Total tourist arrivals totalled 9.7mn, a fall of 0.2% year-on-year (y-o-y). However, this appears to be largely the result of a below par performance in May, with tourist arrivals dipping by 6.4% y-o-y. Between January and April 2012, tourist arrivals grew by a healthy 5.3% y-o-y. Minister of Tourism Gloria Guevara remains confident about Mexico's prospects for full-year arrivals, noting in July that the tourism ministry was forecasting arrivals of 24.6mn in 2012.

Guevara's optimism is borne out by positive revenue in the first five months of the year, totalling US$4.5bn, representing growth of 6.5% y-o-y. Notably, stay-over tourists contributed US$4.5bn to this figure, indicating that Mexico's strategy of targeting tourism from countries beyond the US has been successful so far. Indeed, border tourists (defined as tourists crossing the border who do not stay a night in Mexico) were the main driver behind the decline in overall tourist arrivals in May. Border tourism fell by 15.2% y-o-y in May, while stay-over tourism rose by 2.4%. This suggests security concerns among US citizens may have played a part in the May decline, perhaps ahead of Mexico's elections in early July. As such, Mexico will increasingly look to diversify its tourism base, as demonstrated by marketing campaigns in Europe in 2012.

The election of Enrique Pena Nieto in July 2012 marked the return of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (Party of the Institutional Revolution, or PRI) to the presidency after 12 years. Although the runner-up, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, alleged that there had been voting irregularities during the elections and cast doubt on the legitimacy of Pena Nieto's election, calls by Lopez Obrador for popular protests against the elections failed to achieve the high levels of turn-out seen in 2006. Disruption therefore appears set to be minimal during the run-up to Pena Nieto's inauguration in December 2012.

About Fast Market Research
Fast Market Research is an online aggregator and distributor of market research and business information. Representing the world's top research publishers and analysts, we provide quick and easy access to the best competitive intelligence available. Our unbiased, expert staff will help you find the right research to fit your requirements and your budget. For more information about these or related research reports, please visit our website at http://www.fastmr.com or call us at 1.800.844.8156.

Browse all Consumer Goods research reports at Fast Market Research

You may also be interested in these related reports:

- Romania Tourism Report Q4 2012
- Croatia Tourism Report Q4 2012
- New Zealand Tourism Report Q4 2012
- United Kingdom Tourism Report Q4 2012
- Thailand Tourism Report Q4 2012
- India Tourism Report Q4 2012
- Oman Tourism Report Q4 2012
- China Tourism Report Q4 2012
- Chile Tourism Report Q4 2012
- Chile Tourism Report Q4 2012