Mexico’s Travel Industry Keeps Doing Well

While Mexico’s international tourism continues to grow well beyond industry averages, a handful of U.S.-based airlines are reducing flights to the country, citing decreased demand.

According to various media reports, United, Delta, American and Spirit have or will consider reducing flights from the United States to the beaches of the Mexican Caribbean.

Executives for the airlines discussed their decisions during quarterly earnings conference calls with financial analysts.

The reductions among these carriers however, come as the country’s tourism industry continues its significant growth trajectory and other airlines are increasing flights to its tourist hotspots.

Mexico is currently the sixth-most visited country in the world, hosting 39.3 million international visitors in 2017, a spokesperson for the Mexico Tourism Board said. About 20 million of those arrivals were American visitors. Just five years ago, Mexico was ranked 15th most visited in the world.

From January through May 2018, Mexico’s international tourism grew 9.6 percent compared to the same period in 2017, with air arrivals increasing 5.6 percent, numbers that far exceed the industry average, said the Mexico Tourism Board.

Indeed, Rodrigo Esponda, managing director of the Los Cabos Tourism Board, said there was a substantial increase in flights to Mexico from the United States after the 2016 renegotiation of the bilateral agreement between the two countries.

In July 2016, the United States and Mexico exchanged diplomatic notes to bring a new Air Transport Agreement into force. The landmark agreement was designed to significantly increase trade and travel between the United States and Mexico.

In particular, the agreement allowed for increased market access for passenger and cargo airlines to fly between any city in Mexico and any city in the United States.

Immediately after the agreement, airlines such as Southwest, Delta, and American announced they would begin new flights, according to a Los Angeles Times report.

Southwest began offering three new nonstop flights from LAX to Cancun, San Jose Del Cabo and Puerto Vallarta. Delta, meanwhile, launched new daily nonstop services from New York JFK to Cancun and from LAX to Los Cabos, as well as a Saturday flight from Kansas City, Missouri to Cancun.

Not to be left out, American Airlines started new daily flights from LAX to Cancun and Puerto Vallarta.

Before the frenzy was over, about 400 new routes between the two countries had been approved, reported Vallarta Daily News.

For instance, as of January 2019, Vacation Express will start flying direct to Los Cabos from Cincinnati. Also, in January, Apple Leisure Group will begin offering direct flights to Los Cabos from both Milwaukee and St. Louis, Missouri. The destination is projecting a positive, six percent growth in terms of airline seats to Los Cabos.

As for Mexico as a whole, it continues focusing on the winning proposition it offers travelers: access to beaches, vibrant cities and magical towns, said the Mexico Tourism Board.

In addition to all of those attractions, officials are working to create new experiences to bring more visitors to Mexico, such as the Viajemos Todos Por Mexico campaign, which invites Mexican-American residents to the U.S. to reconnect with their culture.

Source: Travel Pulse