Cancún’s Tourism Slump: US Visitors Plummet

Cancún — The low season in Cancún and the Riviera Maya is being felt with greater intensity this year. Data from the Center for Advanced Research in Sustainable Tourism (STARC) shows that the Cancún International Airport has registered a sustained drop in passengers on six of its ten main routes through August, reflecting a cooling in tourist demand, particularly from the United States.

Between January and August, the routes with the most significant declines are Cancún-Chicago (-15%), Denver (-11.3%), Dallas (-5.8%), New York (-3.6%), Atlanta (-2.5%), and Houston (-0.8%). This trend marks a relevant shift: for three consecutive months, the largest number of international passengers no longer comes from the United States, as had historically been the case.

In contrast, routes with Canada have grown by 26.3%, making the North American country the primary international market for Cancún, displacing the United States in the midst of a reconfiguration of tourist flow.

The domestic panorama is also not immune to the slowdown. Five of the ten most important domestic routes have registered decreases, including Cancún-Mexico City International Airport (AICM) (-5.5%), Cancún-Monterrey (-5%), Cancún-Toluca (-7.1%), and Cancún-Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) (-2.9%).

This contraction is already being felt in daily operations. In early September, the airport reported 341 operations (including arrivals and departures) in a single day, far below the peak of 700 daily flights reached after the pandemic. Last Wednesday, 171 arrivals (80 domestic and 91 international) and 170 departures were counted, confirming the start of a period of lower hotel occupancy, reduced economic movement, and more intense competition among Caribbean destinations.

Experts warn that this trend is not only due to a seasonal phenomenon but also to a structural change in tourist flows. Factors such as the increased cost of services, an oversupply of accommodation, and the perception of insecurity are leading to a "longer and more noticeable low season" that is forcing the sector to rethink strategies to sustain demand in the coming months.