Inbound tourism volume in Latin American regions 2010-2021

In 2021, the number of international tourist arrivals in Latin America increased by roughly 20 percent after a drop of 59.5 percent due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mexico, the region's major player in this sector, accounted for more than half of the international tourism volume in 2021.

Tourism-dependent economies in the region

Out of the around 101.5 billion U.S. dollars in international tourism revenue generated in Latin America in 2019, about 24.6 billion were attributed to by Mexico. This sum made up part of the North American nation’s travel and tourism sector, which in turn directly represented about eight percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) of that year. Meanwhile, the economies of many Caribbean countries are even more dependent on travel and tourism. In Aruba, for instance, this sector made up approximately a third of the island’s GDP in 2019.

The pandemic’s blow to Mexico’s tourism industry

Being the leading country for tourism in Latin America and the Caribbean, Mexico also has a lot to lose in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic. In early 2020, it was anticipated that about 1.7 million jobs in Mexico’s travel and tourism industry were endangered due to the pandemic. Furthermore, the country is expected to have experienced a decrease of around 1.6 trillion Mexican pesos in total tourism consumption in 2020.