Mexico’s tourism industry is growing at a faster pace than its economy, despite the country’s economic crisis, and some tourists are flocking to the country to spend their holidays.
In May, Mexico’s government announced it would spend more than $50 million to promote tourism in the country.
Mexicana tourism, the largest of its kind in the world, now accounts for about 15 percent of the countrys GDP.
Mexico is not alone in having a large tourist industry.
But this growth has been so rapid, and so quickly, that many of its citizens have come to rely on tourism to pay their bills, as opposed to staying in hotels.
“There’s a lot of people who have to be out of work, and this is just a great way for them to stay connected to their families,” said Laura Zahn, the director of the Center for Mexico Studies at The University of Texas at Austin.
“It’s a very effective way to get some extra income.”
Tourism is a major source of income for many Mexicans, with a third of the nations gross domestic product (GDP) coming from tourism alone.
But while the government’s goal is to create 10 million jobs in the tourism sector over the next decade, many are still struggling to pay for the expenses of living in Mexico City and its surrounding areas.
Many Mexican citizens are living off of the government, and they are finding it harder to afford their basic needs.
The problem is exacerbated by the country having one of the highest rates of obesity in the industrialized world, according to a study from the World Health Organization.
“The problem is that in the first three months of the year we’re seeing very high rates of people losing weight, and then they lose weight, so we’re going from a healthy population to obese,” said Jose Manuel Villalobos, a sociologist at the University of Miami.
Villalobo said that the country is in danger of “sinking into a crisis.”
Mexican tourism accounts for only about 15% of Mexicos GDP, and the government is investing more in tourism than ever before, but many are struggling to make ends meet.
-Reuters/Reuters
