Probably, as the Data Indicate Fall-off due to Trump, Currency Exchange Rate not that Serious: Even though one public opinion poll in Mexico had President Donald Trump registering an approval rate among Mexicans in single-digit percentages and even though the Mexican peso has shrunk in value against the U.S. dollar in recent years (from about 13 to the dollar three years ago, ballooning to just over 18 to the dollar this month), it appears that Mexican travelers still plan to visit in the United States this year and next—even if the intent to do so is off by some percentage points, according to the latest proprietary Brand USA research on the matter.
In Brand USA’s Mexico Market Trends Update presented during IPW in Washington, DC, the outlook all came down to one very important table:
It would be a stretch, statistically speaking, to translate the first two sets of numbers in the above as a significant decline, especially in the wake of several months of “gloom and doom” anecdotal accounts on the market situation in Mexico that have appeared in the travel trade news media there and in the United States.
One reason Mexicans like to visit the USA is that so many of them have family and friends here. “In 2014, more than 11.7 million Mexican immigrants resided in the United States, accounting for 28 percent of the 42.4 million foreign-born population—by far the largest immigrant origin group in the country.” (MigrationPolicy.org, March 17, 2016). Millions more of Mexican descent are first and second generation U.S. residents or citizens.
Suzy Shepard, manager, global trade development at Brand USA—she is responsible for Brand USA and its partners, prospects, and international representation firms in Mexico, Central America, and Brazil—touched upon other reasons why travelers from Mexico like to visit the U.S. We’ve outlined part of her presentation below.
Mexico—Travel Trade Trends
- Mexican travelers view the U.S. as a convenient and familiar destination choice. It also has great and plentiful airlift.
- Key words used to describe the U.S. from Mexican travel businesses: “convenient,” “familiar” and “fun.”
- Annual vacations/holidays are the most common trip type.
- The USA means fun and excitement, annual vacation and VFF.
Improving DMO Partnerships
Interactions:
Trade executives prefer contact with local DMO offices. (Hint—it’s a good idea to visit them in Mexico.)
—Ease of communications (language and time zone).
—Deeper knowledge of consumer behavior and travel trends.
Top destination and education tools:
—Most trade professionals identified FAM trips and off-site seminars as the most effective tools for destination training.
—Online training programs, interactive webinars and in-offices visits from suppliers or DMOS were also rated highly effective by a smaller majority.
Most important marketing tools and resources:
—A majority of trade professionals identified a variety of marketing resources as highly important … from sales and discounts to web content to print brochures.
