Tourism Twist: Mexico Celebrates Record Visitors, USA Sees Surprising Slowdown

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Well, folks, hold onto your sombreros and baseball caps because the latest travel numbers for North America are in, and they’re painting two very different pictures! The sunny destinations of Mexico are absolutely booming and breaking records for international visitors. Meanwhile, the United States has experienced a different trend, with a slight dip in its international visitor numbers. Let’s dive into this fascinating tourism twist!

¡Viva México! A Record-Breaking Fiesta of Arrivals!

You heard it right! Mexico is the place to be, and the numbers are shouting it from the rooftops. According to the Federal Tourism Secretary, Josefina Rodríguez Zamora, a whopping 16.2 million international passengers flew into Mexico in just the first three months of 2025! That’s a 2 percent increase compared to the same period in 2024 and an even more impressive 28.5 percent jump from pre-pandemic 2019 levels.

Aerial View Of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico.jpg

Secretary Rodríguez Zamora highlighted that this isn’t just a fluke; it “reflects Mexico’s strong economic and tourism momentum” and shows off the “strengthening of our country’s airport infrastructure.” It sounds like all the hard work is paying off, making it easier and more appealing for people worldwide to come and experience the magic of Mexico. From the stunning beaches of Cancun (we know you love ’em!) to the historic streets of our cities, the allure is undeniable. And when it comes to US-based airlines bringing folks to Mexico, American Airlines and United Airlines were leading the pack, flying in a cool 3 million 523 thousand passengers.

Mexico City

Meanwhile… A Different Story Unfolds for the USA

Now, let’s hop over to the United States. The first quarter of 2025 brought a different kind of news for international travel there. Instead of a surge, they saw a bit of a slowdown. Official data according to the National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) indicates an overall decrease in total international visitor arrivals for the first three months of the year compared to 2024.

While January 2025 started with a promising 5.4% increase year-over-year, February saw a slight dip of around 2.4%. But March? March showed a more significant decrease of roughly 11.6% in total foreign visitors compared to March 2024. This brought the overall Q1 2025 picture to a net decrease. So, what’s causing this cooling trend?

Panorama view of New York city eith statue of liberty

The Canadian Connection: A Big Piece of the Puzzle

One of the most significant factors seems to be a noticeable drop in visitors from their friendly northern neighbors – Canada! It appears fewer Canadians decided to head south to the US in early 2025. The numbers for March are particularly telling. According to a report by Oxford Economics, Canadian arrivals by land reportedly plunged by a staggering 31.9%, and air arrivals from Canada also fell by approximately 13.5% compared to March of the previous year.

Considering Canada is one of the largest, if not the largest, source of international visitors to the US, a drop this significant is bound to make an impact on the overall figures. It’s like having your most regular customer suddenly buy less – you’re definitely going to notice!

Canada-Land-Border-Crossing-Lanes

Other Factors at Play in the US Dip

It’s rarely just one thing, right? Besides the Canadian slowdown, other elements are likely contributing to the US dip. Some reports and analysts point towards:

  • A Strong US Dollar: When the dollar is mighty, it makes travel to the US more expensive for international visitors. Their home currency just doesn’t stretch as far.
  • Strict Immigration Procedures and Perceptions: Concerns over increasingly strict or perceived as unwelcoming immigration procedures and entry processes at U.S. borders can act as a deterrent for some international travelers. Anecdotes and media reports about difficult entry experiences can spread, making potential visitors hesitant.
  • Shifting International Perceptions: Beyond just entry procedures, broader global views and feelings about a country can influence travel decisions.
  • Evolving Global Travel Patterns: People’s travel tastes and preferred destinations can change over time, and competition in the global tourism market is fierce!
  • Economic Conditions: The economic health in various source countries can also impact people’s ability and willingness to travel internationally.

Even the timing of Easter in 2025 (April 20th) compared to 2024 (March 31st) might have slightly skewed the March year-over-year comparisons, though the trend seemed to be setting in before that.

People walking through the busy security line packed with people at Orlando International Airport

A Tale of Two Tourism Trajectories

The figures from early 2025 clearly illustrate diverging paths for these two North American tourism powerhouses. Mexico is celebrating a significant upswing, with its Tourism Secretary highlighting a record 16.2 million international passenger arrivals in the first quarter, a 2% rise from the previous year. This success points to a robust and appealing tourism sector.

In contrast, the United States saw a downturn in overall international visitor numbers during the same period. After an initial increase in January, numbers dipped in February and saw a more pronounced decline of roughly 11.6% in March compared to 2024. This shift, heavily influenced by a reduction in travelers from key markets like Canada, suggests a period of adjustment for the U.S. tourism industry. As the year unfolds, it will be interesting to monitor how these distinct trends continue to shape the North American travel landscape.

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Cancun Immigration Is Changing These 3 Things At The Airport To Help Visitors Feel More Welcome

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Handling over 32 million passengers last year, Cancun Airport is one of the busiest hubs in Mexico, only behind Mexico City’s Benito Juárez.

That’s hardly surprising news, considering it serves both the city of Cancun, the number one resort destination for Americans flying abroad, and the wider Mexican Caribbean, which comprises secondary destinations like Isla Mujeres, Playa Del Carmen, and Puerto Morelos.

Be that as it may, the airport isn’t immune to criticism:

Tourists In Cancun Airport

From the long border waits, to a perceived injustice in the treatment of certain travelers, to the infamous ‘Shark Tank’, a long corridor of shouting taxi drivers, mostly scammers, newcomers must walk in order to exit, it can be a stressful experience.

This year, airport authorities have vowed to crack down on the known issues and will be making 3 significant changes to help visitors feel more welcome—especially if they’re Americans concerned with the souring U.S.-Mexico relations:

100 New Border Agents Are Being Deployed

Let’s start with the main complaint travelers pose when landing: the insanely long border bottlenecks.

Tourists Arriving To Cancun Airport

As you know, whenever you fly out of the States, you’ll be going through passport control at your destination: usually a border officer will interview you briefly to understand your reasons for visiting, ask to see some documentation, and then finally stamp you into the country.

In Mexico, this documentation includes (naturally) a valid passport if you’re a U.S. citizen, but they may also request proof of an outbound or return ticket, so make sure you have yours in hand just in case.

The issue is, lots of travelers lately have been complaining of ‘slow moving lines’, as the screening process gets stricter and border agents spend longer time interviewing individuals, and a ‘general inefficiency’ in the entry process as a whole, as reported by Riviera Maya News.

A Border Officer Stamping A Passport During A Border Control, Unspecified Location

In fact, a number of travelers have even reported ‘mistreatment’, particularly when coming from underdeveloped Latin American countries or even from the U.S.

As you might know, bilateral relations between the United States and their southerly neighbor aren’t great at the moment, with the White House going as far as renaming the Gulf of Mexico ‘Gulf of America’, and intensifying border patrols.

This week, in a meeting chaired by Mara Lezama, the Governor of Quintana Roo, which governs Cancun, authorities announced that, in response to these concerns, 100 additional border agents will be deployed.

This should alleviate the pressure at the border by ‘covering’ the 110 checkpoints distributed around the airport’s three terminals and ensuring a smooth flow of passengers without significant delays, regardless of the terminal they arrive in.

woman holding us passport waiting for a flight

The more interesting part, however, comes next:

According to Lezama, ‘training programs’ will be put in place to ensure officers and airport staff are able to provide ‘warm and friendly service‘ to visitors.

The Governor did not refer to the ‘incidents’ affecting select travelers as of late, though we understand it’s a direct response to issues raised by countries like Colombia, whose nationals have been known to be mistreated, and American travelers worried about the geopolitics of it.

e-Gates Are Increasing In Number

The second part still refers to the improvement of the border experience, except it largely concerns U.S. and Canada passport holders only:

Passenger Scanning Boarding Pass Or Passport At Airport E Gate

The number of e-Gates, the autonomous gates for immigration screening, is increasing in all three terminals.

Since 2023, U.S. and Canadian citizens have been eligible to use e-Gates when landing in Cancun for faster screening.

This involves scanning their passport in one of the automated machines, and crossing into Mexico without further questioning, and bypassing the manual check on border agents’ part altogether—needless to say, these have proven a huge success from introduction.

Quintana Roo officials have not confirmed how many more e-Gates will be added, but if you’re keen on avoiding any border wait whatsoever, make sure you’re traveling on a biometric passport, and that it hasn’t suffered any damage.

Cancun Airport Sign, Mexico

If you’re wondering what a biometric passport is, just look for the tiny camera symbol at the bottom of the cover, and if it’s there, you’re good to go:

A majority of U.S. issued passports these days is biometric.

Free Wi-Fi At The Airport Soon?

Oh, there’s one more thing:

Airport authorities have confirmed they’re working on bringing free connectivity for a longer period of time to all travelers.

As any of you who have flown into and out of Cancun before will know, there is, in fact, free Wi-Fi at the airport, but it only works for up to 60 minutes, and after the one hour elapses, you’re required to pay to continue accessing the internet.

Orange Luggage With A Cancun Tag, Blurred Airport Background, Cancun, Mexico

This can be a pain if you’ve just landed in Cancun, you don’t have a local SIM, and there’s a long wait at the border, or if you’re transiting through the hub, on your way somewhere or back home, and you have several hours ahead of you and no Wi-Fi available.

Some would deem that unacceptable, and rightly so: most airports have free, unlimited Wi-Fi, as we’ve reached a silent understanding it’s not a luxury, but a necessity for most, especially if you’re traveling and can’t afford to go AWOL for consecutive hours.

You know how these things go in Mexico: there’s no date of implementation yet, but we’ll be sure to check the next time we log into the INMVITADOS platform landing in Cancun.

Either way, this is all very promising.

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Cancun Visitors Not Paying The Visitor Tax Could Have Their Passports Flagged

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Cancun is the most sought-after destination for Americans going abroad: with its all-inclusive resorts, buzzing shopping scene, and beautiful beaches lapped by turquoise seas, there is no doubt it is set for yet another record-breaking season.

That being said, a week in paradise does not come with its own share of good old bureaucracy.

Aerial View Of Cancun Hotel Zone, Quintana Roo, Mexico

In April 2021, the state of Quintana Roo, where Cancun is located, introduced VISITAX, a tourist fee required for all arrivals.

The tax applies to tourists landing in Cancun, though since its introduction, authorities have been very lax in enforcing the new law, which is no longer happening moving forward––and for that dodger out there, you might want to think twice:

Not paying this fee could get your passport flagged.

What Is The Cancun VISITAX?

Playa Delfines (Dolphin Beach), Cancun, Mexico

First of all, what is exactly VISITAX?

This is a tourist tax with the aim to generate revenue for new infrastructure, with some examples being new technology to keep the coast sargassum-free, the revitalization of the Tajamar boardwalk, and even road improvements.

We know you’re already wondering why you have to pay the Quintana Roo state on top of your already-expensive all-inclusive resort, but personally, we can’t even be mad at it when we’re seeing the advancement of projects, and the fact it costs only 271 Mexican pesos.

In U.S. dollars, that’s a negligible $13.40, and all travelers aged 15 and over must pay.

View of Cancun from an airplane wing

Also, Cancun is not the only destination to have added a tourist fee in recent years: you can no longer even board a U.K.-bound flight without applying first for their new travel authorization, and just south of Mexico, Belize is the latest to have introduced a similar requirement.

For three years now, however, airport officials have not bothered checking whether tourists have paid the tax or not, with Americans either being completely ignored or let off altogether.

As reported by the Cancun Sun, this changes with immediate effect.

What Are The Consequences For Not Paying?

Resorts On The Beachfront In Cancun, Mexico

Starting this season, tourists who do not show proof of paying the tourist tax might face consequences.

For starters, agents have been stopping tourists departing from Cancun Airport to ensure they have paid the tax before flying out of the state, either to other destinations in Mexico or to their home country.

In most cases, they are simply asked to pay the fee on the spot before leaving, without serious repercussions, but according to the Cancun Sun, others who attempt to leave without paying could be in for an unpleasant surprise coming back to Cancun.

Woman with a Passport

Whether it’s fines or something else, the full extent of the consequences hasn’t been formally detailed––still, one that has been mentioned explicitly is the addition of an ‘observation’ to your passport.

We don’t know what this means exactly, but we do know we don’t want to get our passports flagged by any authorities, particularly when it’s such a minor inconvenience, such as forking out as little as $13 bucks and a few cents.

Should you choose to ignore the requirement, and manage to get away with it, it is probable you will have to pay double the fee returning to Cancun, as border agents will have access to your passport observations, or even be issued a fine, which is unspecified at this point.

Police Patrolling Cancun Beach, K9 Unit, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Trust us, you don’t want to get handed a fine in a foreign country, where laws are different than your homeland, and values can be quite hefty.

Moral of the story, just pay the fee.

How To Pay Cancun’s VISITAX Fee

How do you pay the VISITAX fee?

There are two simple ways to do it: online through the official VISITAX website or upon arrival at one of the kiosks located inside Cancun Airport, Tulum Airport, or other entry points into the state of Quintana Roo.

Passengers Pictured Outside The Cancun Airport International Terminal, Cancun, Mexico

Needless to say, paying online in advance is the most convenient alternative as you’ll be avoiding waiting in line.

The process is very straightforward. You’ll fill out a simplified form, where you’ll be asked to enter your name, birth date, departure date, and preferred payment method (currently, you can only pay with a credit or debit card).

Once payment is confirmed, you’ll be issued a QR code to show to agents when the time comes.

Oh, and beware of scammers!

These are the only two ways you can legitimately pay your VISITAX contribution: do not trust scammers waiting at the arrivals hall or outside the airport, asking for three to four times the actual fee.

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