•TOURISM: The Mexican tourism industry could lose up to US $782 million from Canada’s recent decision to suspend flights to Mexico until the end of April to prevent the spread of more contagious strains of coronavirus, according to estimates released by Mexico’s Ministry of Tourism.
•DECISION: Last Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the suspension of all flights to Mexico and Caribbean destinations starting midnight Wednesday. Per Mexican government’s estimates, up to 791,000 Canadian travelers could cancel their trips to Mexico.
•CRISIS: “The Government of Mexico hopes that the most recent measure announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau can be withdrawn as soon as possible in order to prevent a deep economic crisis in the North American region,” the Mexican government said in a statement after the decision.
•NUMBERS: Canada is the second most important air market for Mexico just behind the United States. Last year, 1.02 million Canadians passengers arrived Mexico via air, according to the Mexican Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC). This was a 61.3 percent smaller figure than in 2019.
