Last week Mexican tourism took a hit again when the Texas Department of Public Safety came out with a statement discouraging travel to Mexico for spring break due to cartel violence and other criminal elements. They wrapped this blanket statement about the entire country in a half-hearted, back-handed compliment:
"DPS also urges Texans to avoid travel to Mexico. The Mexican government has made great strides battling the cartels, and the department commends their continued commitment to that effort. DPS also has a responsibility to inform the public about safety and travel risks and threats, and based on the unpredictable nature of cartel violence and other criminal elements, the department urges individuals to avoid travel to Mexico at this time."
This statement says nothing specifically about the actual safety of tourists and makes no attempts to differentiate between the different parts of Mexico. A link at the bottom of the document takes you to the U.S. Department of State's website for information about travel warnings to Mexico. I understand that they can't list every part of Mexico on their website, but to group the entire country together is not just wrong, but irresponsible.
If you read the State Department's website you will see that almost all of the crime is taking place in the less touristy areas. What the website does, that the blanket statement from Texas does not, is give a breakdown of the individual states of Mexico with which parts of each state are bad and which are not.
Ready for a great statistic? Ten out of the 32 states listed on the website have absolutely no warnings whatsoever and that includes Mexico City. Plus if you look at states where there is heavy tourism like Jalisco, the warnings are not for Guadalajara or Puerto Vallarta; they are for other towns and cities hours away from these places and for intercity travel at night. The states of Yucatan and Quintana Roo, which encompass Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, Riviera Maya and Tulum have absolutely no advisories at all.
[BLURB]With the exception of La Paz and Mazatlan, where recently there has been an uptick in organized crime, there are no warnings for the top ten most visited destinations in Mexico.[/BLURB]
Where exactly does Texas think these kids are going on spring break? With the exception of La Paz and Mazatlan, where recently there has been an uptick in organized crime, there are no warnings for the top ten most visited destinations in Mexico.
Where did Texas decide that they were going to singlehandedly try to stop tourism to Mexico? What right was it of theirs to throw the whole country under the crime bus?
I cannot for the life of me think that the great state of Texas would use a smear campaign to help promote spring break tourism in their state. And to their credit, I have yet to see a "come to Texas for spring break" push as of yet. What I did see was a campaign to make spring break safer in Texas, which I condone.
As per that campaign, more than 30 people were killed on the roads in Texas during just spring break each of the last two years. Which sadly enough, is one third of the amount of tourists from the United States that were killed in all of Mexico all of last year.
So the real question we should be asking is, "Are we safer in Mexico than we are in Texas for Spring Break?" Either way, Texas needs to do the proper research, recant or rewrite their statement. And please, travel to Mexico! It is safe! Do your research, keep common sense about you and have the trip of your life!
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