The mayor of Dallas is spending part of this week in Mexico. The trip is Eric Johnson's first official trip out of the country.
"This first visit is really to kind of get things going again," he said.
Johnson said he aims to reestablish relationships as the world may begin to emerge from the pandemic. He left Monday and plans stops in Mexico City and Monterrey, Dallas' sister city in Mexico.
"We're moving in the right direction, and we just think it's time," Johnson said. "It's time to get back out there and show the world Dallas is back, and Dallas is open for business."
The Dallas Regional Chamber says trade between North Texas and Mexico totaled $1.5 billion last year. In 2019, Visit Dallas says almost half of the international spending in the city was from Mexico, totaling $460 million.
"This is something that can be measured in terms of visitors, tourism dollars," Johnson said. "We hope, soon, we have a greater flow of people between our two countries, specifically between our city and Mexico."
The head of the Mexican consulate in Dallas says 35% of all Mexican business in the United States is headquartered in the city.
"Their international exposure concentrated in Dallas is pretty enormous," Johnson said. "A great percentage of Mexico's business with the entire United States is centered here."
This is Johnson's first official international trip as mayor. This week, he met with the head of the Ukrainian consulate from Houston at City Hall, and on March 11, he had a meeting with the French ambassador to the United States at City Hall.
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