Mexico | Tourism recovers from the pandemic, but sargassum will reach a record in 2022

While the Mexican Caribbean tourism sector shows an accelerated recovery from the drop in economic activity in 2020, returning to pre-pandemic levels of activity. Significant magnitudes of sargassum arrivals are forecast in the coming months, due to the estimate of sargassum biomass in June 2022.

Key points

• Key points:
• As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mexico's tourism GDP fell 25% in real terms in 2020, that is, a reduction four times greater than the one in 2009.
• However, the recovery of the tourism sector has been fast, achieving in December 2021 foreign exchange earnings from tourism higher than those of December 2019.
• The Mexican Caribbean coasts show a similar trend of fast economic recovery. By the end of 2021, the levels of airport activity and hotel occupancy were at pre-pandemic levels.
• In June 2022, it was estimated that the volume of Sargassum biomass in the sea reached 24.2 million tons, setting a historical record. It is estimated that the sargassum that extends in the Atlantic Ocean can cover an area almost as four times the territory of Mexico.
• As of May 31, 18,600 tons of sargassum have been collected this year in the sea and on the beaches of Quintana Roo, exceeding the levels of previous years. It is forecast that in the summer months of 2022, there will be significant arrivals of sargassum on the islands and coasts of the Caribbean Sea.

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