Market Watch: Mexico

Over the past two and half years, BC has become an increasingly preferred destination for Mexico travellers. Full-year arrivals for 2023 showed an increase in visitor arrivals of +60%.

Source: Statistics Canada

International Visitor Arrivals (IVA) from Mexico have remained strong in the first quarter of 2024, and showed significant growth compared to the same period in 2023 and 2022 despite the new visa requirements for Mexican citizens travelling to Canada introduced in February 2024.

BC saw a decline in March of approximately -8% in overnight entries compared to the previous month. This compared favorably to other major destinations that saw significantly higher declines, with Ontario down over -40% and Quebec down almost -14%, and the Canada-wide average of -19%.

Source: Statistics Canada

As a result of consistent growth, BC currently holds the largest share of IVAs from Mexico with 49,000 overnight entries and 42% of all entries across Canada, for 2024 to-date. This reflects 20% year-to-date growth compared to the same time last year.

Source: Statistics Canada