TORONTO — Mexico’s Riviera Nayarit is a rising star with the numbers to prove it, with a 21% increase in international visitors in the first months of 2014 and some 176,690 Canadian travellers in the first half of the year.

Canadians were actually the top international market for Riviera Nayarit in early 2014, with 50% of the visitor total, compared to 44% from the U.S.

Soon, said Richard Zarkin, PR Director for the Riviera Nayarit CVB, “we’re going to be back to the very good years before the economic crisis.”

Zarkin released the Riviera Nayarit figures at a recent industry lunch co-hosted by the Mexico Tourism Board. Overall Mexico is seeing a “fantastic year” from Canada, with 6% growth from January through June, for a total of 1.1 million Canadian visitors, said Rodrigo Esponda Cascajares, Regional Director for the Mexico Tourism Board for North America.