by Donald Wood
Last updated: 12:20 AM ET, Fri October 19, 2018
Mexico is inviting travelers to visit and enjoy the celebrations surrounding the Day of the Dead.
The holiday runs from the end of October through the first week of November and is based on the popular belief that states the deceased return each year to visit relatives and enjoy offerings such as food and drinks.
Day of the Dead mixes the ancestral legacy of pre-Hispanic cultures with the celebration of the All Saints' Day to make one of the most important holidays in the world, welcoming over 7.5 million international tourists each year during the period.
Mexico's Secretary of Tourism (SECTUR) revealed the festivities are expected to generate revenue of more than $208 million for the tourism industry this year.
"It's a tradition that has mixed with popular culture and has become a celebration that belongs to everyone," Mexico Tourism Board CEO Hector Flores Santana said. "Nowhere else can visitors experience such a colorful, magical and surreal celebration."
"Our cultural offering is one of the reasons why Mexico has become the sixth-most visited country in the world," Santana continued. "The celebration honors the past and our ancestors and is a standing invitation for everyone to visit and discover why Mexico is a world of its own."
Many of the Day of the Dead celebrations take place in Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, Michoacan, Oaxaca, Puebla, San Luis Potosi and Mexico City, including the traditional Day of the Dead Parade in the country's capital on October 27.
In 2017, the parade alone welcomed over one million attendees.
The Day of the Dead celebration is spread across Mexico, including the Calaveras Festival in Aguascalientes, the Catrinas Parade in Guanajuato, the Mictlan Festival in Veracruz, the Xantolo in San Luis Potosi and the nocturnal procession on the island of Janitzio.
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