• SHARE: The drastic decline in air travel linked to the Covid-19 pandemic has provoked a spike in Mexico’s share of US air travel abroad from 18 percent during the first half of 2019 to 41 percent during the same period this year, US official figures show.
• OPPORTUNITY: While the number of US citizens traveling via air to Mexico in 2021 remains still below pre-pandemic levels (4.3 million in 2021 vs 5.4 million in 2019), the fact that Mexico has remained open to international tourists during the pandemic helped its market share grow.
• OPTIONS: “Given the limited options (for travel) and with the efforts of (Mexican tourism) entrepreneurs … Mexico has doubled its share in this market, and four out of ten trips that left the United States by plane went to Mexico”, said CICOTUR, a tourism think tank based at Anáhuac University in Mexico City.
• NUMBERS: According to the US Department of Commerce’s National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO), the total number of US citizens abroad via air reached 30.1 million during the first half of 2019 while during the same period this year the total figure was 10.3 million.
