Baja California Sur attracted 1.29 billion pesos (about $72.1 million USD) in foreign direct investment in tourism during 2025, claiming 40.6% of Mexico’s national total for the sector. The state ranked first in the country for the second consecutive year, according to official data cited by the state’s Secretary of Tourism and Economy, Maribel Collins.
The investment flowed into five municipalities: Los Cabos, La Paz, Loreto, Comondú, and Mulegé. Collins said the results reflect growing international interest in BCS, driven by economic stability and a favorable environment for new tourism and production projects.
U.S., Canada, and Spain Lead Investor Nations
The United States was the top source of foreign capital, followed by Canada and Spain. All three countries have deep ties to the peninsula’s real estate and hospitality sectors. Los Cabos alone reached approximately 3.8 million visitor arrivals in 2025, capping a decade of nearly 130% growth in tourism traffic, according to figures from the Los Cabos Tourism Board.
The state’s dominance in tourism FDI is not new. In 2024, BCS captured 36.2% of Mexico’s foreign tourism investment, and the state posted an annual economic growth rate of 4.7% that year, according to INEGI (Mexico’s National Institute for Statistics and Geography). That pace far outstripped Mexico’s national growth of 1.2%.
Broader Economic Picture
BCS ranked as Mexico’s fastest-growing state economy in the third quarter of 2025. Direct tourism activity generated an estimated $7.7 billion USD in economic output statewide that year. The state also ranked as Mexico’s second most competitive entity in a 2025 index published by IMCO, a Mexico City-based think tank.
Despite accounting for less than 0.7% of Mexico’s population, BCS continues to punch far above its weight in attracting foreign capital. The investments target tourism infrastructure, expanded hotel and resort capacity, and improved services across the peninsula’s southern half.
Nationally, foreign direct investment in Mexico’s tourism sector reached $2.9 billion USD in 2024, up 130% compared to 2019, according to the federal Tourism Ministry (Sectur). BCS has been the largest single-state beneficiary of that surge.
This story was first reported by the Gringo Gazette.