Shoppers come and go from some of the shops at the Tucson Spectrum shopping center.

 Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star, File

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Since Arizona’s southern border reopened to tourists in November, there are some indicators Mexican tourists are returning to the region, bringing with them revenue that was sorely missed.

While the southern border was closed to all but essential travel for more than a year-and-a-half because of the pandemic, Tucson missed out on some of the $1 billion typically spent in the city by Mexican nationals every year, according to data from Visit Tucson.

The number of travelers coming into the state through U.S. customs is already on pace to surpass each of the last two years, nearing pre-pandemic levels. The vast majority of travelers come through a port of entry on the southern border, rather than fly in, with 7.2 million people already crossing this fiscal year, from October through January. Last year, that same time period saw only 4.6 million.

While there aren’t hard numbers on what that means for Tucson yet, there is anecdotal evidence Mexican tourists are returning to the region, said Felipe Garcia, president and CEO of Visit Tucson, the city’s destination marketing organization. One indicator at these early stages is hotel occupancy.

For the months of October, November and December, hotel occupancy in Tucson was among the best compared to several cities in Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas, Garcia said, based on a study done by a third party. And in January of this year, Tucson had the best occupancy compared to those other competitive cities.

Previously, Tucson was always trailing in the bottom three or four of 13 cities, he said.

“We’re blown away, to be honest,” he said. “We’re happy. We’re excited about it.”

During the pandemic, Mexican shoppers started buying more online and shopping locally where they live. There was concern those new habits would stick. In response, Visit Tucson created a program where Mexican shoppers can buy products from Tucson stores online.

The city and county invested in marketing and advertising, even during the pandemic, rather than pulling money back like many other destinations, Garcia said.

The marketing organization is also promoting more events that might appeal to Mexican tourists, such as a concert by well-known Latin artist Ricardo Arjona, who is playing at the Tucson Music Hall at the end of the month.

“We want to continue bringing artists that will draw the attention of visitors from Mexico,” Garcia said.

Pedestrians along Morley Avenue in Nogales, Arizona, where many clothing and shoe stores are located.

Border cities like Nogales also felt effects of the border closure, as 60% to 70% of sales in Santa Cruz County typically come from Mexican shoppers, according to data from the Nogales Chamber of Commerce.

So far, Nogales has collected $1.26 million more in sales taxes over what it had collected last year at this time, seven months into the fiscal year. And since the border reopened to tourists, it collected nearly $3.6 million in sales taxes during November, December and January, $791,000 over those months in 2021.

Financially, Nogales is looking similar or even a bit better than in pre-COVID levels, said Mayor Arturo Garino.

“I think we’re going to go into working with our new budget for this year with better numbers, and a lot of people in Nogales, especially in the downtown area — they’re very happy,” he said. “Their stores are opening and there’s movement. There’s people coming across, so there’s a lot of good things happening right now.”

Getting more sales taxes into city coffers was really important, said Santa Cruz County Supervisor Bruce Bracker, adding that the revenue replacement in federal stimulus packages was critically important during the pandemic.

Bracker, who owns a shop in downtown Nogales, said the ports have run smoothly, with enough staff and open lanes to avoid the long lines of the past. But downtown Nogales is still not thriving like it could be, he said.

“Downtown is still pretty tough,” he said. “Downtown needs a catalyst, something that’s going to revive it.”

For Bracker, that catalyst is refiguring the Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry. He has been pushing for upgrades to the port for years, but first there needs to be a feasibility study, which Bracker said will finally be funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, signed by President Biden last month.

“I think that the infrastructure down there is insufficient,” Bracker said. “We’ve thought that for a long time. … The money is in the infrastructure bill for a feasibility study. We’re looking forward to getting that started as quickly as possible.”

The U.S. General Services Administration has planned for funding and anticipates awarding a feasibility study for DeConcini in fiscal year 2023, said spokesperson Andra Higgs.

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Contact reporter Danyelle Khmara at dkhmara@tucson.com or 573-4223. On Twitter: @DanyelleKhmara