NUEVO NAYARIT, Mexico (Border Report) — Tourism from the United States to Mexico has slowed down this year and is not meeting expectations due to a number of reasons including travel warnings and advisories posted by the U.S. State Department, according to the Mexican Tourism Board says.
In places such as Cancun and the Yucatán Peninsula, hotel stays are said to be down by as much as 56 percent.
On the Pacific Ocean side of Mexico, at Nuevo Nayarit resorts, vendors seem to outnumber tourists on the beaches.
During a visit last week to the area, Border Report saw very few people walking on the sand, with hundreds of beach chairs and palapas empty.
At the Único Hotel, the pool area was wide open with fewer than two dozen people sunbathing or gathering at swim up bars.
The hotel said the property was about half full.
Flights from Tijuana to popular tourists destinations in Mexico are reportedly running at about 65 percent capacity.
“In previous years, it’s been very good, but now it’s really slow,” said Sebastian Flores, a beach vendor.
Flores who was selling bracelets and hand-painted bowls, claimed this is as slow as he has ever seen it in his 20 years of selling merchandise to tourists on the beach.
“This harms us a lot, the economy is down already so if we don’t sell, we don’t make anything,” he said.
Salvador, who has says he has been a vendor for more than four decades, says they started noticing a difference once President Trump took office.
“His policies and politics are scaring many visitors from coming down here like they used to,” he said. “There are many people in the United States with papers, but they are afraid to leave because they think they won’t be able to return home after a vacation in Mexico.”
Salvador also blames the economy north of border.
“People have no money, nothing left over for travel.”
According to USA Today, U.S. airlines such as American and Delta are cutting back flights from several U.S. cities to Mexico’s beach destinations to match the drop in demand.
Mexico’s biggest airline, Volaris, has also been cutting back service from cities like Tijuana where many Americans board their flights bound for vacation spots south of the border.
According to the Sustainable Tourism Advanced Research Center, Mexico has seen a significant decline in American visitors to major Mexican beach destinations this year, especially Cancun.
STARC is reporting that in the first half of 2025, Cancun saw a decrease of 6.5%, with arrivals dropping to approximately 2.89 million from just over 3 million in 2024.
Other popular locations are also seeing a similar trend, with Puerto Vallarta down by 5.5 percent and Los Cabos experiencing a 1 percent decrease.
Riviera Maya hotel occupancy has dropped to 44 percent this month, according to the Tulum Times, a tourist publication in the Cancun area.
It is reporting this season is “one of the worst low seasons in years” as more than half of all hotel rooms sit idle.
With the start of “high-season” on the horizon, hotel operators and others, including vendors like Flores, hope tourists start flocking back like they have in previous years.
“It’s gone down for everyone, not just me, the hotels, restaurants, waiters, it’s really low for everyone … I don’t have another job but here, I live off the tourism industry.”
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