Earnings from international tourism during January declined 7 percent according to figures released by the central bank. That is, earnings were 7 percent less than in January, 2010. The biggest decline was registered along the border, an area especially affected by battles between drug smugglers with each other as well as with the military and with police. The number of vacationers spending at least one night in Mexico declined by about 3 percent as did their spending. The only positive figures related to spending by cruise ship passengers. In spite of these figures, the Tourism Ministry announced that international vacation travel was up by 1.7 percent.
And the Banamex Financial Group, owned by Citibank, is predicting that 12.4 million tourists will arrive this year, an increase of nearly 5 percent over 2010.
--
Jimm Budd
Reporting from Mexico City
Member of the Society of American Travel Writers
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