All-Inclusive, Luxury, Romance And Family Travel Driving Mexico Sales, Travel Agents Say

Part two of our coverage. Read part one. 

Coming off a record year of welcoming 35 million international visitors, Mexico is seeing strong growth in a number of key segments, U.S. and Canadian travel agents report.

Of the 447 travel agents who respondend to a Travel Market Report survey last week, 43% reported increased sales of vacations at all-inclusive resorts, versus just 7% who saw a drop and 49% whose sales held steady. Almost every one of the agents (96%) sold all-inclusive resorts, more than sold any other segment.

Luxury travel is also doing well in Mexico this year, with 36% of agents reporting their luxury bookings have increased. Just 10% said luxury sales are down, and 54% said luxury is steady. Eighty-nine percent of the agents have clients in the luxury segment.

Nearly 34% of respondents to the survey said Honeymoon/Romance travel to Mexico has increased, 9% reported a decrease and 57% said business is about the same.  Three in 10 agents (30%) said Family Vacations to Mexico are up, while 8% saw a drop and 62% saw no change. Similarly, in the cruise segment, 32% of agents reported an increase and 9% a decrease. Visits to Mexico by multi-generational family groups from North America are trending upward as well, with 27% of agents reporting increases versus just 9% citing declines.

Destinations Weddings in Mexico continue to be popular; 23% said their destination wedding business has increased and 57% said it is holding steady. But 20% of agents said they saw fewer destinations weddings bound for Mexico, likely a result of continued Zika concerns in this age bracket.

In terms of spending, agents said 40% of their clients spent between $1,000 and $1,500 per person, excluding air; 30% spent between $1,500 and $2,000; and 18% spent more than $2,000. Eleven percent spent less than $1,000.

Where the growth is:
Which segments of their Mexico business are performing better than last year?
1. 43% All-Inclusive 
2. 36% Luxury 
3. 34% Honeymoon/Romance 
4. 32% Cruises 
5. 30% Family (Immediate) 
6. 27% Family (Multi-gen groups) 
7. 23% Destination Weddings 
8. 21% Boutique Hotels 
9. 17% Culture/Colonial Cities 
10. 16% Business Travel 
11. 13% Incentives 
12. 12% Soft Adventure 
13. 11%  Meetings 
14. 9%    Spa/Wellness 
15. 6%    Golf

Which segments of your Mexico business are performing worse than last year?
1. 20% Destination Weddings 
2. 19% Meetings 
3. 18% Golf 
4. 17% Incentives 
5. 16% Business Travel 
6. 14% Culture/Colonial Cities 
7-tied. 13% Spa/Wellness 
7-tied. 13% Boutique Hotels 
9. 10% Luxury 
10. 10% Soft Adventure 
11-tied. 9%  Cruise 
11-tied. 9%  Honeymoon/Romance 
11-tied. 9%  Family (Multi-gen group) 
14. 8%  Family (immediate) 
15. 7%  All-Inclusive

Which segments do you have clients for?
1. 96% All-Inclusive 93% Family (Immediate) 
2. 91% Cruise 
3. 89% Luxury 
4-tied. 85% Multi-generational family groups 
4-tied. 85% Honeymoon/Romance 
6. 73% Boutique Hotels 
7. 68%  Soft Adventure 
8. 65%  Culture/Colonial Cities 
9. 63% Destination Weddings 
10. 61% Spa/Wellness 
11-tied. 46%  Golf Vacations 
11-tied. 46%  Business Travel 
13. 43%  Incentives 
14. 38%  Meetings