Mexican officials say foreign tourism plunged 50 percent in May due to swine flu and the recession _ but the drop is smaller than they predicted.
Mexican central bank statistics show revenue from international tourists fell by more than $540 million compared to the same month last year.
The bank said in a report Thursday that 500,000 foreign tourists visited Mexico in May, compared to 1 million in April. Visitors on cruise ships fell by 95 percent.
But Tourism Secretary Rodolfo Elizondo says the drop is much smaller than the $1 billion decline initially predicted. He also says that the industry is expected to begin recovering as swine-flu fears lessen.
Tourism is Mexico's third-largest source of legal foreign income, after oil and remittances.
