Mexico Poised to Break Tourism Records in 2012

MEXICO CITY, Jan. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Building on solid tourism numbers in 2011, the Mexico Tourism Board predicts 52 million tourists will visit Mexico in 2012. This follows a strong winter break season with hotels in many of the top tourist destinations – from Cancun to Los Cabos -- seeing a significant increase in occupancy compared to last year's winter break.

To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mexico-poised-to-break-tourism-records-in-2012-138200009.html

SECTUR, The Mexican Ministry of Tourism reported that the number of air arrivals in December 2011 was up 13 percent compared to the same period in 2010. More than 1.07 million international travelers visited Mexico in the last month of 2011, a record for December.

In addition to an increase of visitors from the US (10.6 percent) and Canada (9.1 percent), Mexico received significant year on year increases from Spain (6 percent), Italy (10.5 percent), Argentina (21.4 percent), and France (12.4 percent).

"We envisage that 2012 will be a record-breaking year for Mexico in terms of tourism numbers," said Rodolfo Lopez-Negrete, Chief Operating Officer of the Mexico Tourism Board. "Mexico's tourism industry is undergoing a stunning transformation - based on a bold strategy of diversification -- focused on promoting a broader range of tourism products (i.e. cultural tourism, adventure travel and health related-tourism) aimed at attracting a new breed of global consumer."

"The Mexico Tourism Board will continue to market directly to tourists from non-traditional origins in Europe and Asia, while at the same time strengthening our hold on American and Canadian travelers."

A key focus for the Mexico Tourism Board in 2012 will also be to capitalize on, celebrate and promote the start of the new Mayan calendar -- with a strong awareness campaign aimed at promoting travel to the five states that comprise the Mayan World - specifically Quintana Roo, Campeche, Tabasco, Chiapas and the Yucatan.

This further reinforces the Mexican Government's goals of aggressively driving a diversified tourism strategy to achieve its goal of ranking amongst the world's top five tourism destinations by 2015.

"We have no intention of simply being seen as a 'sun and beach destination.' Mundo Maya is a prime example of this strategy as we are converting the Southeast into a coveted tourist destination, internationally."

For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:
Jennifer Risi
Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide
+1-646-240-6297

SOURCE Mexico Tourism Board