The tourism industry is a crucial component of the New Mexico economy. Visitors are a crucial economic driver for the state’s future, providing advantages to homes, businesses, and the government equally. Gross production (total business sales), which includes visitor spending in New Mexico, surpassed $10 billion in 2021. Policymakers can make better decisions about the funding and prioritizing of the sector’s development by keeping an eye on the visitor economy. They can also carefully track its achievements and requirements in the future. This is especially true for New Mexico, which is expanding its tourism industry.
The industry can monitor its development by creating a baseline of economic impacts. Tourism Economics created a thorough model outlining the wide-ranging effects resulting from visitor expenditure in order to measure the importance of the visitor economy in New Mexico. The study’s findings demonstrate the extent of the visitor economy in terms of direct visitor spending, as well as overall economic effects, employment opportunities, and fiscal (tax) repercussions on the larger economy.
39.2 million tourists spent $7.2 billion in New Mexico’s economy in 2021. Direct visitor spending includes costs for accommodation, food and drink, entertainment, retail shopping, local transportation, and air travel. While large increases over the previous year were seen in transportation (31%), entertainment (28%), and lodging, including second homes (25%), retail expenditure rebounded to 2019 levels.
