Mexico’s tourism workforce can be measured in more than one way. INEGI counted 2,931,592 remunerated occupied jobs in tourism activities in 2024, equal to 7.4% of all remunerated occupied jobs in the country. SECTUR’s broader ITET measure counted 5,067,000 employed people in tourism in April–June 2026, or 9.3% of its national employment measure. These totals describe different statistical concepts, so they should not be added together or treated as interchangeable.
Contents
- How large is tourism employment?
- The annual ITET trend
- Goods and services in the tourism workforce
- Where tourism jobs were concentrated in 2024
- How activity-level employment changed
- Recent quarterly indicators
How large is tourism employment?
The Cuenta Satélite del Turismo de México (CSTM) 2024 reported 2,931,592 remunerated occupied jobs in Mexican tourism activities during 2024. INEGI’s measure put tourism at 7.4% of all remunerated occupied jobs in Mexico for that year. The unit is jobs, and the scope is remunerated occupied employment within tourism activities.
SECTUR’s Indicador Trimestral del Empleo Turístico, or ITET, gives a larger result because it measures employed people. The ITET series recorded 5,067,000 employed people in Mexico’s tourism sector in 2026 Q2, April through June, representing 9.3% of the national employment measure used by ITET. That figure includes subordinated and remunerated workers as well as self-employed workers.
The distinction matters when planning travel destinations or interpreting the economic footprint of tourism. The CSTM total is an annual count of remunerated occupied jobs. ITET figures are employed-person estimates, include self-employment, and exclude indirect and induced employment. The two series therefore answer related but different questions.
For an earlier reference point, SECTUR reported 4,801,000 employed people in tourism in 2023 Q4, October through December. That quarterly count was 36,592 people higher than the preceding quarter. The SECTUR employment release presents that result as an ITET-based tourism-employment figure.
The annual ITET trend
SECTUR’s annual ITET figures show a long-run rise interrupted by a sharp fall in 2020. The annual figure was 3,951,900 employed people in 2016, followed by 4,095,300 in 2017 and 4,187,500 in 2018. It reached 4,438,500 in 2019 before dropping to 3,823,600 in 2020.
The series then moved upward: 4,264,200 in 2021, 4,603,800 in 2022, 4,800,700 in 2023, and 4,901,600 in 2024. The 2023 and 2024 annual ITET values in the DataTur activity tables are last-quarter annual figures, rather than the annual CSTM jobs measure.
| Annual period | ITET tourism employment |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 3,951,900 |
| 2017 | 4,095,300 |
| 2018 | 4,187,500 |
| 2019 | 4,438,500 |
| 2020 | 3,823,600 |
| 2021 | 4,264,200 |
| 2022 | 4,603,800 |
| 2023 | 4,800,700 |
| 2024 | 4,901,600 |
The Resultados de la Actividad Turística: febrero 2024 source provides the 2016–2023 annual sequence, while Diciembre turismo en cifras provides the 2024 annual figure. The 2020–2026 expansion factors used in the ITET series rely on population estimates from Mexico’s 2020 Population and Housing Census.
Goods and services in the tourism workforce
INEGI’s CSTM split remunerated occupied tourism jobs into goods activities and services. In 2023, tourism goods activities accounted for 193,096 jobs, while tourism services accounted for 2,638,954. In 2024, the goods total was 178,646 jobs and the services total was 2,752,946.
| CSTM category | 2023 jobs | 2024 jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Tourism goods activities | 193,096 | 178,646 |
| Tourism services | 2,638,954 | 2,752,946 |
The activity detail shows why the services category dominates the CSTM total. In 2024, restaurants, bars and nightclubs represented 679,178 jobs, passenger transport represented 669,907, visitor accommodation represented 409,974, and other tourism services represented 690,397. These four categories together account for most of the remunerated tourism jobs listed by INEGI.
The goods category is represented in the activity table by arts and other goods. It accounted for 193,096 jobs in 2023 and 178,646 in 2024. Those values match the goods totals in the CSTM split, preserving the difference between tourism-related goods activity and tourism services.
Where tourism jobs were concentrated in 2024
The CSTM 2024 activity breakdown identifies several distinct employment centers. Restaurants, bars and nightclubs were 23.2% of the tourism total, with 679,178 remunerated jobs. Passenger transport accounted for 669,907 jobs, or 22.9%.
Other tourism services was the largest listed category by count, with 690,397 jobs and a 23.6% share. Visitor accommodation accounted for 409,974 jobs, or 14.0%. Together, these figures show that lodging is important but smaller than each of the broad restaurant, passenger-transport, and other-services groupings in the 2024 CSTM classification.
Smaller categories also provide useful context for travel-related work. Tourism commerce accounted for 161,989 jobs, or 5.5%. Sports and recreational services accounted for 76,550 jobs, or 2.6%. Cultural services accounted for 42,197 jobs, or 1.4%. Travel agencies and other reservation services accounted for 22,754 jobs, or 0.8%. Arts and other goods accounted for 178,646 jobs, or 6.1%.
The comparable 2023 CSTM shares were 24.3% for restaurants, bars and nightclubs; 23.0% for passenger transport; 13.8% for visitor accommodation; 21.4% for other tourism services; 5.9% for tourism commerce; 2.6% for sports and recreational services; 1.4% for cultural services; 0.9% for travel agencies and other reservation services; and 6.8% for arts and other goods.
How activity-level employment changed
The 2024 CSTM comparison shows gains in several service activities. Passenger transport tourism jobs increased 2.8% from 2023 to 2024. Visitor accommodation jobs increased 5.0%. Cultural services rose 7.4%, and sports and recreational services rose 4.5%. Other tourism services recorded the largest listed increase, at 14.2%.
Other categories contracted. Restaurants, bars and nightclubs tourism jobs decreased 1.2% in 2024 compared with 2023. Tourism commerce decreased 2.3%. Travel agencies and reservation services decreased 15.4%, while arts and other tourism goods decreased 7.5%.
The count changes behind those percentages help show the scale of the categories. Restaurants, bars and nightclubs fell from 687,196 jobs in 2023 to 679,178 in 2024. Passenger transport rose from 651,427 to 669,907. Visitor accommodation rose from 390,373 to 409,974. Other tourism services increased from 604,668 to 690,397.
The remaining 2023-to-2024 counts were 165,832 to 161,989 for tourism commerce, 73,278 to 76,550 for sports and recreational services, 39,285 to 42,197 for cultural services, 26,895 to 22,754 for travel agencies and other reservation services, and 193,096 to 178,646 for arts and other goods.
These are changes in remunerated occupied jobs in the CSTM activity classification. They are not equivalent to changes in the broader ITET employed-person series, and they do not measure indirect or induced employment.
Recent quarterly indicators
The smoothed ITET series gives a more frequent view of tourism employment. It recorded 4,124,746 employed people in 2021 Q3, 4,552,176 in 2022 Q3, and 4,764,097 in 2023 Q3. The 2023 Q3 level was 211,921 people higher than in 2022 Q3, a 4.7% increase.
The Resultados de la Actividad Turística: tercer trimestre de 2023 source also recorded 4,800,700 employed people in 2023 Q4. The later ITET measure was 5,067,000 in 2026 Q2. SECTUR reported that the 2026 Q2 count was 78,550 people higher than in 2025 Q2, a 1.6% increase, and represented 9.3% of national employment under the ITET definition.
The ITET quarterly series spans 2006 Q1 through 2026 Q2, covering 82 quarters of tourism-employment observations. It is smoothed using the average of the latest four quarters. That method makes the series useful for tracking direction across periods, but a quarterly value should be read as a smoothed indicator rather than a single-month headcount.
The 2026 Q2 figure is an estimate for that measurement period, and the quarterly ITET series excludes indirect and induced employment. Keeping the definition, period, and geography visible is essential when comparing it with INEGI’s annual 2024 CSTM total or with activity-level tourism jobs.