Mexico may drop out of world's tourism top 10

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico's top tourism official says the country may be dropped from the list of the world's top 10 tourist destinations, a spot it has held for years.

Tourism Secretary Claudia Ruiz Massieu hasn't said why the drop has occurred, but there were declines in 2012 in two areas that have been affected by violence — border tourism and cruise ship stopovers.

The country has shown an overall drop in the number of international tourists arriving.

The regional director for the World Tourism Organization said Tuesday it may be less a story of Mexico losing tourists than about other countries such as Russia, Malaysia and Austria making big gains.

Despite the drop in visitors, he noted that tourism revenues to Mexico have been growing.