PHOTO: Puerto Vallarta remains safe for visitors, the tourism director said. (Photo by Greg Custer)
Puerto Vallarta's top tourism official expressed surprise that three cruise lines cancelled calls to the Mexican resort area this week, saying that the violence was isolated and limited.
"The city of Puerto Vallarta and other areas in the state of Jalisco experienced disturbances on Friday morning May 1," Agustin Alvarez, director of the Puerto Vallarta Tourism Board, said in a statement. "The local city and state police quickly responded and put an end to the situation within a matter of hours. Peace was restored and no further events have occurred.
"No harm came to any residents or visitors to Puerto Vallarta and no disturbance, restriction or limits have affected tourists in Puerto Vallarta. All tourism infrastructure and services including the port, marina, airport, convention center, hotels and resorts, tours, and transport remained fully operational."
The number of scheduled cruise calls to Puerto Vallarta increased this year with 145 visits expected. This week, the Celebrity Infinity, Disney Wonder and Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas cancelled calls to Puerto Vallarta, although the Carnival Miracle still planned to visit.
Hotel occupancy exceeded 95 percent last weekend, Alvarez said, citing statistics from the Hotel Association of Puerto Vallarta, and more than 3,800 convention delegates were in town attending international conferences. Also in Puerto Vallarta last week were 140 American and Canadian travel writers and bloggers attending the North American Travel Journalist Association's annual conference.
"Please rest assured that visitors to Puerto Vallarta continue to enjoy the tranquility, warm hospitality and security it is well known for, and the incidents that took place last week have in no way affected or altered this," Alvarez concluded.
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