Impact of Mexican shoppers: $5.1 billion

RIO GRANDE, EL PASO, BEXAR COUNTY – Mexican nationals are coming to Texas and causing an economic impact, according to IBC Bank, Visa Inc., the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and the Asociación de Empresarios Mexicanos.

Mexican nationals spent more than $5.1 billion in 20 border counties in 2011 and 2012.

Mexican shoppers spent more than $850 million in Hidalgo County in 2012, the highest of any county in the study.

El Paso, Webb and Bexar counties, were next on the list. Mexican national spending in El Paso County in 2012 was just under $450 million.

Cameron County ranked No. 5 among the 20 counties, with Mexican nationals spending roughly $225 million in 2012.

An estimated 49 percent of transactions are conducted with cash, for instance. Visa card purchases, however, represent 29 percent of spending by Mexican nationals.

Spikes in Mexican national spending coincide with heavy travel periods: the Christmas holidays, Easter and summer vacation. The research was conducted by SABER Research Institute, an economic development think tank that is an alliance between the San Antonio chamber and St. Mary’s University.

Read more at The Brownsville Herald.

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