Last Friday, data describing Mexico’s increasingly challenging tourism outlook continued to pile up. Moreover, in a country that lacks effective tourism policies and tools, due to the dismantling of government institutions and a lack of budgets.

In the latest news, international visitor arrivals by air decreased by -7.8% in April compared to the same month in 2022, according to data from the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Migration Policy Unit.

The adjustment includes data from the five main international markets that send travelers to Mexico, namely: United States, -13.5%; Canada, +30.2%; Colombia, -18.1%; United Kingdom, -28.7% and France, +13.6%.

Other markets that have been important in the past have also shown declines: Argentina, -3.4%; Spain, -13.5% and Brazil, -42.2%.

This is the first drop in international visitor arrivals by air after the pandemic; however, since March there has been a sharp slowdown as annual growth was only 1.1%.

As for the United States, this is the second straight decline, as March saw a drop of -9% on an annual basis.

DIVISADERO

MAZATLAN. Although it has been operating since earlier this month, the inauguration of the Cortez Aquarium Marine will take place next Wednesday, located in the main tourist destination of Sinaloa.

Participation from Miguel TorrucoSecretary for Tourism, who supported the project despite the fact that it was developed with the president Enrique Pena and the then governor of Sinaloa, Quirino Ordaz.

This work is controversial, not only because it is a Public Private Association (PPP), but because it hastened the closure of the traditional Mazatlán Aquarium, which was already in a difficult situation, lacking investment and a long-term maintenance plan. .term.

The new aquarium not only consolidated itself as an important tourist product for increasing arrivals to Mazatlán and expanding stays, but also a museum, in the same area called Central Park, which expanded with state resources and today is part of the city’s assets.

Ernest Coppelpresident of Grupo Pueblo Bonito, is an investor promoting the aquarium executive project together with a group of entrepreneurs who founded the United Trust for Mazatlán in 2014.

Although he never planned to invest in aquariums, after two other specialist aquarium entrepreneurs refused to do so, he began ordering private contributions of 600 million pesos to match federal government resources in 2018, because otherwise APP would not have them. has been signed. .

The pandemic, inflation, and rising original costs resulted in Coppel’s current participation of 1.2 billion pesos, including various credits, compared to 600 pesos from the federal government; If the projections are met, the aquarium will start turning a profit within 15 years.

By then, Coppel would be 90 years old, although his motivation was to give back as much of his land as he gave it away.

LABOR CHALLENGES. Interesting statement Jesus AlmaguerCancun’s president of hoteliers, who said that to reduce the worker deficit impacting the lodging sector, they can hire immigrants, as long as the National Institute of Migration legalizes their stay as temporary employees.