Cancun Takes Proactive Measures to Ensure Tourist Areas Remain Safe

A military police base has been established just north of Cancun in Isla Mujeres as Mexican officials take proactive steps to ensure the destination's popular tourist areas remain safe.

President Enrique Pena Nieto said Cancun and surrounding areas "should offer optimal security conditions for the millions of visitors who come here each year," the Associated Press reported.

The U.S. State Department issued an updated travel advisory for Mexico as recently as this past summer indicating that there are no travel restrictions in place for Americans visiting Mexico's major tourist destinations such as Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, Tulum and the Riviera Maya.

While there's no denying parts of Quintana Roo and other regions of the country as a whole have experienced an uptick in violent crimes based on the latest figures—there were 342 homicides in Cancun over the first eight months of 2018 compared to 148 in the same period last year, according to the AP—it must be pointed out that a vast majority of crime doesn't impact tourists, despite what some mainstream media reporting might suggest.

"The irony is I just saw some statistics earlier this week where the per capita murder rate in Baltimore is double that of Cancun. It's 50 percent more in Detroit, for instance, and a lot more in Chicago," travel expert Mark Murphy said on the TravelPulse Podcast Wednesday.

"Just like the U.S. took measures after 9/11, the folks here in Mexico aren't standing around. They're putting in communication efforts so you're properly informed. They're adding to the police presence, military presence, etc.," he added. "That's a fantastic move because it just sends a message to the bad guys that this is out of bounds. Even though you haven't been here affecting tourism, we're going to make sure that doesn't happen."

Murphy, who has visited Mexico countless times—including several times just in the past couple of months to interview actual travelers on the ground in Cancun and elsewhere—reminds travelers that many popular international tourist destinations require and wisely choose to have an imposing police or military presence in 2018.

"A couple people have asked me: 'Isn't that going to scare people away?' I said: 'Have you been to New York Penn Station lately? There are National Guard troops with M16s standing all throughout the terminal.' You'd rather be safe than sorry. Whether it's Paris, Brussels, London or any place around the world, if they're smart they have a visible presence like that because it deters the bad guys."

"This really prevents things so when you hear about the military presence down here make sure you understand that it's a reassuring presence and it means that they are taking active steps," said Murphy.

Mexico's popularity continues to surge as the country recently became the sixth-most visited destination in the world after hosting 39.3 million international visitors in 2017.

As the country's tourism industry continues to flourish it makes sense that officials are looking at any and all options to invest in and protect it.