By: Charles Sipe

Mexico Tourism Rebound

Although the recession and warnings of violence has hurt tourism in 2009, visitors to Mexico has rebounded in 2010.

According to an article from International Living:
This year the tourists are back. So far in 2010, over 7.1 million international tourists have come to Mexico, a 19% increase over last year, say Ministry of Tourism officials. Even more noteworthy, tourist numbers are 6% higher than in 2008—the last banner year for Mexican tourism. (These figures are based on tourists arriving by air.)…

Most returning tourists are avoiding the border area, which is associated with the on-going drug war violence. Instead, they tend to head south, toward beach areas that are little affected by violence. In August, for instance, both Cancún and Los Cabos, in Baja California Sur, saw about a 30% increase over last year in the number of visitors.

Vacancies still remain high in many resort properties and rates are still depressed, however Mexico is faring better than the world as a whole which has seen slower growth.

According to LA Times:
Memories of last year have started to fade,” said Anthony Concil, a spokesman for the International Air Transport Assn., a trade group for the world’s airlines.

The sharp increase in visitors to Mexico is also significant because Concil and other analysts have predicted only modest growth in travel worldwide. International air travel, for example, was up 6% in August compared with a year earlier, according to the International Air Transport Assn.

Mexico’s Tourism Minister, Gloria Guevara, expects international tourists to reach 22.6 million this year and tourism investment is also up.

According to an article from Bloomberg:
From January to July, Mexico’s tourism industry received $1.8 billion in investment, 28 percent more than in the same period in 2009, Guevara said.

“This shows confidence in Mexico continues,” Guevara said. “Investors are still betting on Mexico and betting on tourism.”

Original Article

Posted on October 20th, 2010 by Tropicasa Realty
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Mexico Tourism Minister Gloria Guevara said the country expects to have 22.6 million foreign tourists this year, matching the industry’s 2008 numbers before swine flu hurt activity last year.

The number of visitors grew 20 percent from January through August from the same period a year earlier, the minister said without specifying figures in an interview on Radio Formula.

From January to July, Mexico’s tourism industry received $1.8 billion in investment, 28 percent more than in the same period in 2009, Guevara said.

“This shows confidence in Mexico continues,” Guevara said. “Investors are still betting on Mexico and betting on tourism.”

Mexico’s travel industry has been hit by concerns about violence associated with drug trafficking, an outbreak of H1N1 flu last year and the global economic slump. Tourism revenue fell 15 percent to $11.3 billion in 2009 from $13.3 billion 2008, according to the ministry.

Original at: Bloomberg

Posted on October 13th, 2010 by Tropicasa Realty
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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The Mexican stock market is going gangbusters this year despite a drug war that has claimed more than 28,000 lives.

The Mexican stock market’s IPC Index has increased 6.7% year-to-date, outpacing the Dow Jones industrial average’s 5% gain.

This is one of the factors that prompted John Lomax, emerging markets equity analyst for HSBC in London, to upgrade Mexico to an “overweight” rating, in other words: “buy.”

“We saw very strong growth in Mexico for the first half of the year,” said Lomax, noting that the export-driven economy has bounced back from its dismal performance in 2009.

“Clearly the drug related issues are a problem for Mexico,” he said. “Not withstanding that, the Mexican economy has been performing in a normal and familiar way.”

This means that the Mexican economy is tracking the U.S., sharing many of the same benefits and problems.

The impact of drug violence — which has been centered on cities near the border, like Ciudad Juarez, Tijuana and Monterrey – has had a mixed impact on the economy. Lomax said the violence has been “geographically concentrated” to certain cities, preventing widespread damage.

“This is an issue for Mexico, but that has not stood in the way of the economy having a normal cyclical recovery,” he said.

Mexico’s strong performance this year is in stark contrast to its GDP contraction of 6.9% in 2009 prompting Alonso Cervera, emerging markets analyst for Credit Suisse in New York, to raise his GDP forecast to a 4.7% gain in 2010.

But Cervera said that violence in Mexico presents a “clear threat” to the economy.

“It is true that most of the killings take place in certain locations, but I feel that the insecurity created by the killings and the extortions and kidnappings are having an impact on private consumer activity and private business investments,” he said.

In a recent note to analysts, Cervera wrote, “It is impossible to estimate the cost that these problems have inflicted on economic activity – we are just in the process of finding that out. But clearly the cost of doing business in Mexico has risen.”

Much is riding on the efforts of President Calderon to win the drug war that erupted when he took office in 2006. Since then, parts of the country have become a battle zone between cartels and federal police. Assassinations of public officials have become commonplace.

“When thinking of the many obstacles to stronger economic growth in Mexico, one has to think about crime,” wrote Cervera.

Original on: CnnMoney

Posted on October 13th, 2010 by Tropicasa Realty
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