Mexico City, Jan 1 (IANS): Mexico welcomed 31 million international tourists in 2021, representing an increase of 28.1 per cent compared to that of 2020, according to preliminary estimates from the Ministry of Tourism released.

In a statement on Friday, Minister of Tourism Miguel Torruco said that Mexico's tourism sector is in "strong recovery," after noting that 24.2 million international travelers visited the country in 2020, a decrease of 46.1 per cent compared to 2019.

Foreign exchange income from international visitors reached $18.428 billion in 2021, an increase of 67.6 per cent against 2020, according to Ministry estimates.

In addition, average annual hotel occupancy was 45.9 per cent, 19.9 percentage points above 2020, when the sector's activity plummeted due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Xinhua news agency reported.

Torruco said traveler confidence has improved as a result of the application of vaccines against Covid-19 in various regions and countries.

The tourism sector's GDP will reach a 7.1 per cent share of the economy as a whole by 2021, and by 2022 the indicator is expected to increase to at least 8.3 per cent, he added.

Overall, the Mexican economy could rebound by up to 6 per cent in 2021, according to official estimates, after plummeting 8.2 per cent in 2020.