International tourism to Mexico grows 19.6 percent in first half of year, central bank says
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Mexico's central bank says the country's international tourism grew 19.6 percent in the first six months of 2014, compared to the same period last year.
The Bank of Mexico says in a statement Tuesday that 14.2 million foreigners visited Mexico between January and June and spent $8.4 billion.
International tourism to Mexico declined after drug cartel violence increased. A number of cruise operators dropped port calls and the number of visitors to northern border cities plunged.
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The central bank says Mexico's cruise and border tourism have rebounded. Border tourism grew 35.5 percent in the first six months of this year to 6 million visitors and the number of cruise visitors rose 25 percent to 3 million.