Tourism accounted for 8.2 percent of Mexico’s GNP in 2002

Mexico’s leisure industry raked in revenues last year for over $8.8 billion, according to stats disclosed by the nation’s Tourism Department.

In the first half of the ongoing year, some 9.2 foreign visitors flocked to Mexico’s tourist destinations for a staggering 10.5 percent increase compared to the same period of time in 2002 when the Aztec nation nicked roughly $4.9 billion.

”In 2002, the tourist balance for Mexico tipped favorably with a walloping $2.8 trillion. During the first six months of 2003, the country scored a surplus that amounted to little more than $1.9 billion,” the entity pointed out in a press release.