Both Mexico and China, which are among the world's top 10 tourist destinations, will benefit from a new direct route with increasing tourist arrivals.
A new direct air route between
Mexico and China is expected to open before the end of 2011, a tourism official has said.
Rodolfo Lopez Negrete, director of the Tourism Promotion Council of Mexico's Tourism Ministry, said opening a new direct route between Mexico City and Beijing is seen as one of the ministry's top priorities, and they are discussing the issue with several international airlines.
Lopez said progress had been made in talks with China's Hainan Airlines, Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific and Mexico's Aeromexico.
Tourism authorities are also talking with Aeromexico to "explore the possibility of adding a flight to Beijing," Lopez said. Aeromexico currently has a direct flight to Shanghai with a stop in Mexico's northern city Tijuana, and passenger numbers on these flights are impressive.
The number of Chinese tourists in Mexico has nearly doubled in the past two years, up to 30,000 in 2011 from just over 16,000 in 2009, Lopez said, adding that Mexico's goal is to receive at least 100,000 Chinese tourists in the next few years.
According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, China was one of the world's top four tourist destinations with 52.2 million international arrivals in 2009. Mexico ranked the 10th most visited destination with 21.5 million arrivals in that year.
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