Canada overtakes US as Mexico’s high air journey associate

Data from quite a lot of sources now present that Canadians — not Americans — are the highest worldwide guests arriving to Mexico’s most important vacationer vacation spot, the Caribbean coast. And for the primary time ever, the Cancún-Toronto route ranked because the busiest of any worldwide flight to Mexico, in accordance with the Mexican Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC).

Of 10 air routes with probably the most worldwide visitors to the Mexican Caribbean final 12 months, six connecting with the U.S. confirmed downturns whereas two Canadian flights skilled important passenger surges.

A research carried out by the Center for Advanced Research in Sustainable Tourism (STARC) at Anáhuac University’s Quintana Roo campus revealed that travel from Toronto, the capital of the Canadian province of Ontario, climbed 26.1% in comparison with 2024, displacing the 2 flights from Texas (Dallas-Cancún and Houston-Cancún) which had historically topped this annual checklist.

In truth, final 12 months’s Dallas-Cancún flights had 4.5% fewer passengers than in 2024. Two different common U.S.-Caribbean routes suffered declines final 12 months — Chicago-Cancún (down 11.7%) and Atlanta-Cancún (–2%).

In distinction, the Montreal-Cancún connection surged 24%.

The STARC research concluded that the doubtless explanation for the rise in journey to Mexico by Canadians is a response to the punitive insurance policies, threats and insults directed towards Canada by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has even proposed making it the 51st U.S. state.

On Thursday, Forbes Magazine wrote that Canadians are one 12 months right into a boycott of U.S. locations that has price the U.S. economic system US $4.5 billion. The boycott is more likely to proceed in 2026, Forbes mentioned, as journeys to the U.S. turned decrease in January.

Citing knowledge from Mexico’s Tourism Ministry, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported in December that the variety of Canadians flying to Mexico elevated 11.3% between January and September 2025 in comparison with the 12 months earlier than, a rise of just about 200,000 vacationers.

“I do think that there is a Trump effect, but I don’t think it’s only a Trump effect. … Mexico is an attractive possibility for Canadians … and we see that reflected in the numbers,” Sara Ranghi, advertising and marketing director for Meliá Hotels International, advised the CBC.

Francisco Madrid, director of STARC, forecast that airways is not going to miss the chance offered by the Trump impact to benefit from the Canadian market. 

“The Canadian market made a big difference in 2025, growing by approximately 12 to 13%,” he mentioned.

With studies from El Economista, Forbes Magazine and CBC