Mexico Hoteliers Warn of 1.1 Million Air Tourist Loss as U.S. Arrivals Slump

Cancún, Quintana Roo — Mexico is on track to receive about 1.1 million fewer air travelers in 2026 than last year, even as overall international arrivals keep climbing, the country’s leading hotel and business associations warned.

Speaking at the presentation of a report titled “Hotelería en México: retos para recuperar la demanda y la conectividad de los principales destinos turísticos” (Mexican Hotels: Challenges to Recover Demand and Connectivity at Leading Destinations), the National Association of Hotel Chains (ANCH), the Mexican Association of Hotels and Motels (AMHM) and the National Tourism Business Council (CNET) said Mexico is losing competitiveness. They called for a working group with the federal government and lawmakers to identify new funding sources for tourism promotion and infrastructure.

The report, compiled with data from the Center for Advanced Research in Sustainable Tourism (STARC) at Universidad Anáhuac Cancún, the national statistics agency INEGI and other domestic and international sources, found that air arrivals fell 4.6% between January and July while total international arrivals rose 4.5%. That shift worries the industry because air travelers spend far more than other visitors.

Between January and August, each air passenger spent an average of $1,292.7 in Mexico, compared with $87 for cruise passengers and $54.1 for border-day visitors, according to the figures presented.

The decline is visible at the country’s main beach destinations. International passenger traffic dropped 6.1% in Cancún and 8% in Los Cabos between January and August, while Puerto Vallarta recorded a 19.4% contraction. In August alone, Mexico lost 13,168 formal hotel jobs compared with the same month in 2025.

The drop in U.S. visitors is a central concern. Air arrivals from the United States fell 10.4% between January and August, even though American travelers accounted for 65% of the total. Arrivals from Colombia and Brazil rose 29.8% and 24.4%, respectively.

“We grew 4.5% in international tourists, but we fell significantly in the segment that leaves the most money in the country,” said ANCH president Jorge Paoli, who urged authorities and business leaders to build a joint diagnosis before next year’s budget policies are set.

The shift is also evident in U.S. travel decisions. Between January and September, 1,026,309 U.S. air travelers stopped choosing Mexico, a 9.9% decline. Over the same period, Italy gained 188,064 U.S. travelers and the Dominican Republic added 84,206.

The associations attributed the trend to a combination of factors, including higher jet fuel costs, currency fluctuations, perceptions of insecurity and the bankruptcy of Spirit Airlines. They also said Mexico needs to strengthen promotion of the Mexico brand and maintain specialized teams to manage crises that damage the country’s image.

Cancún International Airport, which averaged 450 to 500 daily operations and topped 600 in high season, had recorded 50 consecutive days below 400 operations as of October 5 — a decline of between 20% and 30%, according to figures previously reported by REPORTUR.mx.