Riviera Maya, Mexico - Tourism in Mexico has grown at an unexpected rate with a 9.9 percent increase in the first quarter of 2016.

According to the Tourism Board of Mexico, the rate of increase surpasses that of any other place in the world. The federal agency of the Secretariat of Tourism (Tourism Ministry) said that according to figures from the World Tourism Organization (WTO), global tourism growth was 5.1 percent during the same period.

The agency noted that among beach destinations, Cancun topped the list with 1.38 million visitors already this year with the Riviera Maya trailing closely with 1.3 million. Other beach hot spots in Mexico include Los Cabos with 400,000 and Puerto Vallarta with 277,000 visitors since the beginning of the year.

The Ministry of Tourism noted that the Mexican cities that saw the greatest increase in air tourism between January and April of this year were Guadalajara with an increase of 11.1 percent, Mexico City with 16.2, Leon with 11.9 and Monterrey with a 10.7% increase.

The ministry also pointed out that between the first quarter of 2012 to the same period of this year, the arrival of international tourists grew 42.1 percent, "during that period reaching nearly 3.4 million more tourists" and that already this year, extended air connectivity for Mexico has seen the arrival of 75,700 international flights, a growth of 7.8% over the same period last year.