The Government of Mexico expresses its concern regarding the expansion of the U.S. State Department's Level 4 travel advisory to include 180 countries, among which are: Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Spain, and others. This action has a bilateral impact on the reactivation of tourism and connectivity with the North American region.
We are joined to the United States by an extensive and complex common border and a diversity of natural markets, which together with Canada make up one of the main supply chains in the world. In addition, we share communities that reside in both countries and families in both nations.
In 2019, tourism between Mexico and the United States reached 173,364,000 international visitors between the two countries, with 92,094,000 visitors from the United States traveling to Mexico, and 81,270,000 traveling from Mexico to the United States. This volume of international tourism between the two countries represented a total expenditure of USD 26.873 billion, of which Americans spent USD 18.617 billion in Mexico, and Mexicans spent USD 8.256 billion in the United States. Limiting tourism and productive and business activities by restricting the movement of travelers between the two countries would represent a loss for the two economies, within our countries, at the border and for the cruise industry.
In addition, in 2019, there were 10,775,249 flights from the U.S. to Mexico, a figure that attests to the increasing connectivity between our countries. This has implications for the intensive tourism and economic and social exchanges, and affects families and communities in both countries. For Mexico, this agenda represented 8.7 percent of GDP in 2018.
At the global level, Mexico has emphasized the need for equitable and collective responses, since there can be no global solutions if there are countries lagging behind. To combat the pandemic, Mexico has promoted universal inoculation and international cooperation for access to vaccines. Proof of this are its biosafety and vaccination measures, which have placed it among the 15 countries that have received and administered the most Covid-19 vaccines, building international certainty and trust.
Without denying the serious crisis that the pandemic represents for the world and the region, the Mexican authorities understand the impact that this decision has for both nations and will address the situation with their US counterparts, given that the measure is not directed solely at Mexico, but rather includes a large group of countries.
Note: The figures used are from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), the Bank of Mexico and the National Migration Institute.