New Passport Requirement Not Making a Dent in Mexico’s Travel Industry

The number of tourists who visited Mexico during the first quarter of this year was up compared with the same period in 2006, and those visitors also spent more, according to the Mexico Tourism Board.

Some 3.6 million tourists visited Mexico between January and March of this year, up 8.3 percent from the year-ago period, while tourism spending for the period reached $3.7 billion, an increase of 14.6 percent, the tourism board said.

Meanwhile, despite fears that the new passport requirements imposed on travelers entering the U.S. from Mexico would lead to a decrease in the number of Americans visiting Mexico, the tourism board reported that 15 percent more Americans traveled to Mexico during the first quarter of this year compared with 2006.

In the meantime, the number of cruise ship visitors increased by 78,000 passengers, and spending by cruise ship passengers climbed nearly 20 percent to $173.8 million.