What Mexico’s President-Elect Could Mean for Tourism Amid Protectionism Worries
Photo Credit: Mexico's president-elect has been described as a populist and the travel industry is split on how he'll address tourism growth. Pictured are Mayan ruins in Tulum, Mexico. Flickr / Prayitno
Skift Take
At least Mexico's president-elect, López Obrador, has tapped someone intimately familiar with the travel industry and how it operates locally and internationally. It's more than the United States can say it's done for travel in the past year and a half.
Since his election as Mexico's new president on July 1, the travel industry has been mostly congratulatory toward Andrés Manuel López Obrador. But some also fear the populist and protectionist platform that got Lopez Obrador elected could portend storm clouds for the world's sixth most-visited country.
When López Obrador takes office in December, he will join a string of populist world leaders, such as neighboring U.S. President Donald Trump, who have been elected in recent years. That Mexico became the country with the sixth highest number of international arrivals (35 million) in 2016 has many global travel industry leaders paying particularly close attention.
López Obrador has already named his Secretary of Tourism, Miguel Torruco Marqués, who studied hospitality at Cornell University and is well-known in Mexico's tourism and hospitality sectors. Torruco Marqués has served on many tourism and hospitality association boards in Mexico and has been Secretary of Tourism of
