Mexico moves toward promoting sports tourism as a major draw for international visitors

Fresh off hosting the fourth World Sports Tourism Congress that attracted 500 participants from 30 countries, Mexico is developing a campaign to turn sports tourism into a major draw for visitors.

Spearheaded by the Confederation of National Chambers of Commerce, Services and Tourism (Concanaco Servytur), the project will get support from the public sector, including the Association of Tourism Secretaries of Mexico (Asetur), the federal Tourism Ministry and state sports institutes, all aiming to develop broader tourist experiences around national and international sports competitions.

For starters, Concanaco is developing Mexico’s 2027 sports tourism calendar to enhance the country’s potential for attracting tourists via sporting events.

Mexico is the first Latin American country to host the World Sports Tourism Congress, which ran from Sept. 7 to 9, and is already rich in major sporting events. Concanaco will identify existing championships or tournaments and promote additional tourism activities in the destinations where they are held.

“These aren’t new tournaments; they already exist and are held in the country,” Concanaco President Octavio de la Torre said in an interview with the newspaper EFE, referring to the events on the calendar. “But we’re going to make them visible as sports tourism, not just as a sporting activity. In this ecosystem, we’re going to connect experiences with lodging and, of course, commerce.” 

The northeastern border state of Tamaulipas in particular is looking to establish itself as a leading destination for sports tourism. According to state Tourism Minister Benjamín Hernández Rodríguez, the state has allocated over 236 million pesos (US $13.8 million) to the improvement and construction of recreational and high-performance facilities.

Tamaulipas already hosts several major sports events, such as the upcoming Gran Fondo Tampico, a cycling event set for Sept. 27, which offers visitors not only a race to watch but also opportunities to enjoy cultural, gastronomic and recreational activities in the Gulf coast city of Tampico. 

International tourism is up — at the border

Mexico received 4.41 million international tourists in July, 3.8% more than in the same month of 2025, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) reported on Monday. The United States remained the leading source market, with 1.69 million arrivals.

However, July registered a 3.2% decline in international tourists staying at least one night while simultaneously logging a 13.2% increase in border tourism, referring to visitors who enter Mexico at its northern or southern border but do not travel farther inland. Similarly, air arrivals of international tourists in July were down 5.7%.