Fewer Mexicans visit U.S.in first quarter, report

During the Easter holiday, a significant number of Mexican travelers stayed away from the United States, a traditional getaway destination for Mexican families, local media reported Friday.

Headlined "Mexican tourists say no to the U.S. in Holy Week," an editorial published in the daily El Economista said, "there are fewer Mexicans visiting their 'favorite' places in the United States."

While the drop in U.S.-bound tourism was evident in the first quarter of 2017, the trend "became clear during the Holy Week and Easter vacations," as Mexicans reacted to the hostile policies of U.S. President Donald Trump, the daily said.

On Jan. 25, Trump signed an executive order for a "physical barrier" to be built along the U.S.-Mexico border of nearly 3,200 km.

However, "international experts point out that our country, along with Canada, would benefit the most from travelers losing interest in the United States," El Economista said.

Data published earlier this week by the Mexican Ministry of Tourism appears to bear this out, with statistics indicating more Mexicans chose to travel domestically.

"Preliminary figures ... show the 2017 Holy Week vacation period set a record, achieving a general average of 91 percent" domestic hotel occupancy, the ministry said Wednesday.

Some Caribbean beach destinations, such as Cancun, Holbox and Puerto Morelos, even hit 100 percent hotel occupancy.

The U.S. tourism industry has taken note of the fall in visitor numbers, not only from Mexico, but also Europe and the Middle East.

"On the web, flight searches for trips heading to the U.S. out of all international locations was recently down by 17 percent," according to a recent article in U.S. travel-planning website Frommer's. Endi