Mexico is sitting on a tourism goldmine that needs to be exploited, tourism officials here believe.
According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO), some 100 million Chinese travel abroad each year. Last year, however, only 75,665 came to Mexico.
Although the figure has been increasing over the last few years, the numbers are still tiny compared to other internationals destinations. Over 740,000 Chinese tourists visited New York in 2014 and 200,000 went to London.
Mexico’s Ministry of Tourism (Sectur) designated 2015 as the “Year of China-Mexico Tourism” and scheduled several promotional tours in China this year that have included seminars to travel agents.
The federal agency will soon launch a “Close to China” seal that distinguishes tourism service outlets that cater specially to the Asian market with Chinese signs and brochures, on-site interpreters and even in-room tea kettles.
According to Sector, Chinese visitors stay an average of one week in Mexico and spend around $US2,600.