Record Numbers of Frostbitten Fliers Chase Sun, Cheap Pesos in Mexico Nacha Cattan - Bloomberg
go to original March 10, 2015

A frigid U.S. winter is creating a record tourism season in Mexico as travelers enriched by savings from cheap gas and stronger dollars seek warmer climes.

This season is shaping up to be the most robust for Mexico tourism, the country’s fourth-largest source of foreign cash and a bright spot in an economy dragged down by low oil prices and production. December revenue from tourists was the highest for any Christmas season, according to central bank data, and foreign visits in January rose from last year’s highs with a boost from U.S. travelers.

“I’m looking forward to not putting on 12 layers before I go outside,” said Morgan Thompson, 25, a marketing and communications manager at a furniture company in New York, who recently booked an Aeromexico flight to a beach town in Mexico. “I’ve never seen so much snow in my life.”

...The weather triggered an exodus south. In January, foreign visits to Mexico rose 8.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the National Immigration Institute in Mexico City. It was the biggest month for international visitors of any January since 2007, according to the Interior Ministry. Travel from the U.S. alone increased 11 percent in the same month.

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Photo: John Moore/Getty Images

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