The Mexican government hopes a recently inaugurated Emirates flight between Dubai and Mexico City via Barcelona will lead to a significant boost in the number of high-spending Gulf travellers in the country, according to the country’s Secretary of Tourism, Miguel Torruco Marques.
The inaugural Emirates flight touched down in Mexico on Monday, December 9. With the flight, Mexico City becomes the fifth Emirates destination in Latin America, in addition to Santiago, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
Speaking to reporters in Mexico City last week, Marques said that the flight forms part of a wider government effort by the administration of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to diversify the source markets for incoming tourist markets in Mexico.
“The flight will help bring in tourists from the entire Arabian Peninsula, as well as from other markets such as Singapore and India. That’s an important opportunity for us to diversify our markets, and, above all, increase the flow of high-spending tourists,” he told Arabian Business.
These tourists, Marques said, will allow Mexico to increase its tourism revenues “and help benefit the local people.”
In his remarks, Marques said that a total of 523 UAE nationals visited Mexico in 2018 – an 8.1 percent increase over the previous year. Collectively, the UAE tourists spent $484,000.
Mexican government statistics show that between January and October 2019, 520 Emirati tourists visited, a 17.8 percent increase from the same time period in 2018. Altogether, they spent $527,447, a 31 percent year-on-year increase.
“The Dubai-Barcelona-Mexico City route will contribute to an increase in tourists to our country from that part of the world, in addition to leading to more [financial] impact from Spanish tourists that can board the flight during its stop in Barcelona,” he said.
In 2018, 386,257 Spanish tourists flew to Mexico – 2.4 percent more than in 2017 – collectively spending over $357 million. Between January and October of this year, an additional 330,489 Spaniards arrived in the country, spending approximately $335 million.
Expanding Ties
In an interview with Arabian Business, the UAE’s ambassador in Mexico, Ahmed Hatem Al Menhali, said that the launch of the Emirates flight – along with an easing of visa restrictions – had been the embassy’s top priorities in Mexico for the last three years.
“Now Mexicans can also go to the UAE without visas,” he said. “Things are very smooth for businessmen and tourists in both countries. They don’t have to go to the embassy or wait for visas. If they get a ticket, then can come or go.”
In addition to bolstering tourist numbers and business ties, Al Menhali said he expects that cultural exchanges between the two faraway countries will see a significant boost as a direct result of the Emirates flight.
“What do Mexicans know about the UAE? Only the Burj Khalifa and the desert,” he said. “And what do Emiratis know about Mexico? Just mariachi bands and sombreros. But now, they will know more. Especially with daily flights, they don’t need to wait to learn more. It’ll be very easy.”
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