Mexico is a Latin American country that is very popular for its tourism attraction sites. Most of its revenues come from tourism which is one of the biggest industries in the country. It receives many tourists than the rest of the Latin American nations.
World wide, the country is ranked eighth in terms of those countries that register highest number of tourists. Tourism in Mexico is somehow seasonal as it reaches its peak time in the period between December and mid summer but also during Easter holidays, many tourists frequent this place. This essay will mainly focus on tourism in Mexico and will discuss in depth about some of the cities that are highly visited together with their attraction sites.As noted above, Mexico draws most of its revenue from tourism industry and during 2006, about 21.
4 million tourists visited the country something that helped the country to collect revenue amounting to 12.17 US dollars. The country’s most popular tourist attraction sites are the colonial cities, ancient Meso-American ruins and other beach resorts such as the Cancun resorts which are very popular in the region. Most of the tourists who visit Mexico come from Canada and United States but there are still others who come from Asian and European countries while the rest are from Latin American countries (Handbooks, 2003).
Apart from the country relying on international tourism, domestic tourism also cannot be ignored as it boosts the country’s economy in a big way. Middle class Mexican families spend their vacations on Mexico’s tourist attraction sites although many of them prefer to go to overseas countries.According to Moon Handbooks (2003), one of the cities in Mexico that are highly frequented by tourists is Puerto Vallarta which is a resort city that is located at the coast of the Pacific Ocean. The city’s typical tropical climate is something that favors its tourism industry.
Puerto Vallarta is one of the biggest and highly populated cities in the region and about fifty percent of its economy is tourism based. Tourism has created many job opportunities in the region and about 50 percent of the city’s workforce is in tourism industry- hotels, restaurants and in transport and communication sectors (Moon Handbooks, 2003).The city receives most of its tourists in the periods between November and March but this might extend up to the time when colleges in the United States go for their Spring break but there are also others who visit during the Easter and Christmas holidays. Most of the tourists who visit this city are from the United States but there are also local tourists who visit for example, during the popular weekend the city is visited by many Guadalajara residents.
Another city whose role it plays in the country’s economy cannot be underestimated is the Cancun city. This is a city that is located in the Mexico’s coastal region, Yucatan channel and that is why it is commonly referred to as the Mexican Caribbean. The city registers about four million tourists each year and has approximately over hundred and fifty hotels and three hundred and eighty restaurants. According to the government statistics, about 37 percent of the tourists who visit this city are local especially those in the upper-middle class and middle class.
The main thing that attracts tourists is the city’s expensive and classic hotels which offer various services such as entertainment, catering services and various sports like non motorized water sports and tourists are given a fourty percent discount if they visit Mayan ruins (Travel Yucatan, 2009).Indeed tourism is one of the biggest industries in Mexico. Most of the government projects are financed by money that is sourced from tourism industry. Many people are employed in this industry be it in hotels restaurants and in the communication sectors for example about half of Puerto Vallarta’s workforce is in this industry.
References:Moon Handbooks, 2003. Puerto Vallarta Emeryville. California Avalon Travel Publishing.Travel Yucatan, 2009.
Cancun Mexico. Accessed from http://www.travelyucatan.com/cancun.php
