Southern neighbor
Mexico’s tourism leader says his nation still welcomes Americans.
Q: What impact has the American presidential election in 2016 had on tourism, and what impact do you foresee it having in the future?
A: What we know so far about the American election, in terms of tourism, is that it hasn’t had any impact. We’re still growing, I believe, at an 11 percent annual rate in Americans who travel to Mexico by plane. So there has been no impact in terms of Americans flying down into Mexico . ... The growth of international visitors to Mexico is about 12 percent annually, which is five points above the international level. We passed from the 15th most visited country to No. 8, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, which ranks countries based on the number of international visitors. But we want to keep that. We want to keep up because that represents a very significant part of our economy. Ten million jobs are related to tourism in Mexico and growing. Twenty-four percent of the people who fly down to Mexico either come from Texas or pass through Texas.
But we were worried.
Q: And you’re not worried anymore?
A: We are accustomed to it. We are used to being worried.
Q: So what about how Mexican nationals feel about Americans coming into their country when they see that rhetoric?
A: After NAFTA, the way Mexicans view the U.S. is very positive. I think we were very nationalistic before now. And with NAFTA, we started to see the U.S. in a different way — a positive way — and that has been the feeling up to now. Yes, the rhetoric doesn’t help, and if you see the polls ... the opinion of most Mexicans toward the U.S. is a bit more shaky. Having said that, I think we have been able to separate the rhetoric from the reality, and we are a very welcoming country. We want the Americans to be in Mexico. Again, 60 percent of international tourists in Mexico come from the U.S.
Q: What about Mexican tourism to the United States in the past year?
A: The number of Mexicans that come into the U.S. is just close to 20 million people, and according to the Department of Commerce, they spend close to $20 billion a year . ... And of course that’s mostly in the states on the border with us. Texas is very important. Many Mexicans have houses and investments in the U.S.; Mexicans love coming to the U.S. for trips and for shopping. But yes, in the last year there has been a reduction of the trips of Mexicans to the U.S. by around 5 percent.
Q: And how has the price of oil affected tourism?
A: From my point of view, energy wasn’t a sector in Mexico, it was a religion, it was an ideology. People believed — or some people believed — that we had to own not only the oil but also the property of firms exploring that. And that has changed basically because it didn’t make any sense for us to continue to put public money into exploring and exploiting oil, and also because we had to share risks . ... There are significant amounts of pipelines that have been under construction ... most of that gas is being bought from the U.S., because we do not have as of now enough gas production. So I think it’s a great opportunity for investment. So we’re very positive about the future.