Mexico’s tourism economy generated 2,713,120 million pesos at current prices in 2024, equal to 8.7% of national GDP. The latest international-traveler figures show 34,991,625.43 thousand US dollars of income in 2025, while January–June 2026 produced 18,781,680.87 thousand US dollars. Together, these measures show the scale of tourism for Mexico’s economy, while also distinguishing domestic activity from money brought in by visitors from abroad.
Contents
- Tourism GDP and national economic scale
- Which tourism activities generate the most GDP?
- Real tourism GDP performance in 2024
- Domestic, inbound, and outbound tourism consumption
- What travelers spend money on
- International tourism revenue and traveler spending
- Tourism employment in Mexico
Tourism GDP and national economic scale
The Cuenta Satélite del Turismo de México (CSTM) 2024 reports tourism GDP of 2,713,120 million pesos at current prices in 2024. This is the nominal value of tourism production during the year. Tourism represented 8.7% of Mexico’s total GDP.
For a price-adjusted comparison, Mexico’s tourism GDP was 2,091,619 million pesos at 2018 prices in 2024. Real tourism GDP increased 2.5% in 2024. The corresponding total-economy GDP was 23,955,408 million pesos at 2018 prices, with real total-economy GDP increasing 1.3%.
The current-price and 2018-price figures answer different questions. Current prices describe the value using prices observed in 2024. The constant-price measure is intended to track real output while holding the price reference at 2018. The 2.5% tourism increase is therefore a real-growth measure, not a change in the nominal peso total.
| Measure | 2024 figure | Basis or period |
|---|---|---|
| Tourism GDP | 2,713,120 million pesos | Current prices |
| Tourism GDP | 2,091,619 million pesos | 2018 prices |
| Tourism share of total GDP | 8.7% | 2024 |
| Total-economy GDP | 23,955,408 million pesos | 2018 prices |
| Real tourism GDP growth | 2.5% | 2024 |
| Real total-economy GDP growth | 1.3% | 2024 |
Which tourism activities generate the most GDP?
Tourism-related services generated 2,370,721 million pesos at current prices in 2024, compared with 342,399 million pesos for tourism-related goods. Within the activity detail, passenger transport generated 571,816 million pesos, and visitor accommodation generated 568,815 million pesos.
Restaurants, bars, and nightclubs generated 413,762 million pesos. Other tourism services generated 464,772 million pesos, while tourism commerce generated 239,831 million pesos. Cultural services generated 51,256 million pesos, and sports and recreation services generated 42,166 million pesos.
These categories describe tourism GDP by activity, so they should not be read as a tally of international visitor receipts alone. The wider tourism account includes domestic tourism and other tourism-related production. It also separates tourism-related goods from services, which helps explain why service activities dominate the current-price total.
The CSTM 2024 also reports travel agencies and other reservation services in its real-growth detail, although the supplied current-price activity figures do not provide a separate nominal amount for that category.
Real tourism GDP performance in 2024
The 2024 activity results were uneven. Tourism-related services grew 3.1% in real terms, while tourism-related goods contracted 1.3%. Passenger transport was one of the stronger reported activities, growing 5.6% in real terms.
Visitor accommodation grew 1.2% in real terms. Cultural services grew 4.2%, and other tourism services grew 14.7%. These are price-adjusted changes for 2024, not nominal peso increases.
Several activities contracted. Restaurants, bars, and nightclubs declined 5.7% in real terms. Tourism commerce declined 2.8%, while travel agencies and other reservation services declined 13.8%.
| Tourism activity | Real change in 2024 |
|---|---|
| Tourism-related goods | -1.3% |
| Tourism-related services | 3.1% |
| Passenger transport | 5.6% |
| Visitor accommodation | 1.2% |
| Cultural services | 4.2% |
| Other tourism services | 14.7% |
| Restaurants, bars, and nightclubs | -5.7% |
| Tourism commerce | -2.8% |
| Travel agencies and other reservation services | -13.8% |
The combination of 2.5% real growth for tourism overall and different results by activity matters for travel planning. A growing aggregate can coexist with declines in particular visitor-facing businesses, because the total combines multiple goods and service categories with different weights and performance.
Domestic, inbound, and outbound tourism consumption
Total tourism consumption in and outside Mexico reached 4,796,438 million pesos at current prices in 2024, according to the CSTM 2024. Tourism consumption within Mexico reached 4,507,058 million pesos. Of that domestic-location total, Mexican residents accounted for 3,739,481 million pesos in domestic tourism consumption, while visitors from abroad accounted for 767,577 million pesos of inbound tourism consumption.
Mexican residents’ outbound tourism consumption abroad reached 289,380 million pesos. The reported shares were 94.0% for tourism consumption within Mexico and 6.0% for outbound consumption. Domestic tourism consumption represented 78.0% of total tourism consumption, and inbound tourism consumption represented 16.0%.
Mexican residents supplied 83.0% of tourism consumption within Mexico. This is an important distinction: inbound tourism is a substantial component of spending in Mexico, but the 2024 tourism-consumption account also shows the larger role of residents traveling and spending within the country.
The following figures use current prices and refer to 2024. They are not interchangeable with international-traveler income reported in US dollars for 2025 or January–June 2026.
| Consumption measure | 2024 figure | Share reported |
|---|---|---|
| Total tourism consumption in and outside Mexico | 4,796,438 million pesos | 100.0% |
| Consumption within Mexico | 4,507,058 million pesos | 94.0% |
| Domestic consumption by Mexican residents | 3,739,481 million pesos | 78.0% of total |
| Inbound consumption by visitors from abroad | 767,577 million pesos | 16.0% of total |
| Outbound consumption by Mexican residents abroad | 289,380 million pesos | 6.0% |
What travelers spend money on
Travel purpose patterns differ between domestic and inbound tourism consumption. Among domestic tourism consumption in Mexico in 2024, vacations accounted for 28.6%. Other purposes represented 40.6%, pre-trip expenses 13.8%, excursion travel 11.7%, and business travel 5.4%.
Inbound tourism consumption was more concentrated in vacations. Vacations accounted for 78.4% of inbound tourism consumption in 2024. Other purposes represented 12.7%, excursion travel 6.5%, and business travel 2.4%.
| Travel purpose | Domestic consumption | Inbound consumption |
|---|---|---|
| Vacations | 28.6% | 78.4% |
| Other purposes | 40.6% | 12.7% |
| Excursion travel | 11.7% | 6.5% |
| Business travel | 5.4% | 2.4% |
| Pre-trip expenses | 13.8% | Not supplied |
The categories are shares within their respective consumption groups. They should not be added across the domestic and inbound columns. The CSTM figures also use “other purposes” as a reported category, so the category should not be treated as a specific type of trip.
International tourism revenue and traveler spending
The Banco de México international travelers table CA198 reports Mexico’s international-traveler balance at 21,336,928.93 thousand US dollars in 2025. International-traveler income reached 34,991,625.43 thousand US dollars in 2025.
For January–June 2026, international-traveler income reached 18,781,680.87 thousand US dollars, up 0.54% from the same period of 2025. International tourists generated 17,116,656.21 thousand US dollars during that period. Non-border tourists generated 15,809,474.70 thousand US dollars, while border tourists generated 1,307,181.51 thousand US dollars.
International excursionists generated 1,665,024.67 thousand US dollars in January–June 2026. Cruise excursionists generated 574,872.22 thousand US dollars. Average spending by international tourists was 698.59 US dollars for January–June 2026.
The 2026 figures cover only the first six months of the year and are not a full-year forecast. The 0.54% comparison is specifically against January–June 2025, so it should not be compared directly with the full-year 2025 income total as if both covered the same period.
Tourism employment in Mexico
Tourism activities supported 2,931,592 remunerated jobs in Mexico in 2024, and remunerated tourism jobs increased 3.5% during the year. Tourism-related services accounted for 2,752,946 jobs, compared with 178,646 jobs in tourism-related goods.
Among the detailed activities, other tourism services accounted for 690,397 remunerated jobs. Restaurants, bars, and nightclubs accounted for 679,178 jobs, and passenger transport accounted for 669,907 jobs. Visitor accommodation accounted for 409,974 remunerated tourism jobs.
These employment figures are counts of remunerated jobs associated with tourism activities in 2024. They are not a count of unique people, and they do not describe the employment status of international travelers or domestic visitors.
The employment distribution broadly reinforces the service-heavy GDP picture, while also showing that job intensity does not correspond exactly to nominal GDP ranking. Restaurants, bars, and nightclubs supported more reported jobs than visitor accommodation, even though the current-price GDP figures for those activities were 413,762 million pesos and 568,815 million pesos respectively.
| Employment measure | Remunerated jobs in 2024 |
|---|---|
| Total tourism activities | 2,931,592 |
| Tourism-related goods | 178,646 |
| Tourism-related services | 2,752,946 |
| Other tourism services | 690,397 |
| Restaurants, bars, and nightclubs | 679,178 |
| Passenger transport | 669,907 |
| Visitor accommodation | 409,974 |
For a travel-planning view of Mexico’s tourism economy, the main pattern is a large domestic base alongside significant inbound spending. In 2024, tourism represented 8.7% of national GDP and supported nearly 2.93 million remunerated jobs. The latest international-revenue figures then provide a separate, dollar-denominated view of cross-border traveler income through June 2026.