50% Fall in Foreigners Visiting GTO

The beauty of the cobblestone streets of San Miguel de Allende and the admirable architecture of the buildings of its capital were not enough to maintain tourism levels. In the first four months of the year, the state of Guanajuato received 8.7 million visitors, a decrease of 16% compared to the same period of 2018.

Data from the State Secretariat of Tourism reveal that this had a 15% drop or 24.8 million peso impact on the economic flow. María Teresa Matamoros, Guanajuato state secretary of Tourism, claims the tourism levels have been following a trend but expects improvement at the end of 2019.

The largest decrease was from international visitors from January to April 2019. In 2018, 785,000 international visitors arrived while in 2019 during the same period, only 386,000 arrived, a decrease of 50%.
Matamoros claims the state government is focusing on domestic visitors, however, marketing efforts are being made in other parts of Latin America, including Colombia and Brazil.

Due to the fall in tourism, Matamoros blamed the federal government for eliminating the Tourism Promotion Council of Mexico.