Mexico's most popular tourist destinations remain safe to visit under the U.S. State Department's new travel advisory classification system, which recommends Americans "exercise increased caution" when traveling to Mexico.
"The U.S. Department of State today confirmed that major international tourism destinations in Mexico are safe," the Mexico Tourism Board said in a statement issued Wednesday.
"According to the updated travel advisory for Mexico and specific mentions for Mexican states and major cities, Mexico's major international tourist destinations have been explicitly listed as having no travel restrictions or they exist in states where there are no special travel advisories for tourists."
The board expressed concern that the crime statistics used to justify the advisory-which has been in place for years-are related to the country overall rather than the number of incidents impacting foreign visitors.
"As it pertains to this updated travel advisory for Mexico, the U.S. Department of State advises to 'Reconsider Travel' to select Mexican states, but then exempts the tourist destinations within those states. This exception to tourism destinations highlights the fact that the vast majority of crimes in Mexico do not occur in areas frequented by international tourists," the board added.
"And even in the rare cases of crime within tourist areas, incidents involving international tourists are incredibly rare."
Mexico's Tourism Secretary, Enrique de la Madrid also acknowledged the new travel alert and vowed to make enhanced security a top priority.
According to El Universal, Madrid confirmed that an agreement will be signed between the Ministries of the Interior, Tourism, the government of Baja California Sur, the municipalities of La Paz and Los Cabos and local businesses Friday to further ensure visitor safety.
While the State Department may have some concerns over security in Mexico as a whole, the message doesn't seem to be affecting travel to the nation.
From January through September of last year, Mexico welcomed 28.6 million visitors, an increase of 12.3 percent over the same period during 2016. Outbound travel to the United States from Mexico hasn't fared nearly as well, however. Just 11.1 million Mexicans visited the U.S. from January through August of 2017, representing a 7.6 percent decline over the previous year.
While visitor numbers are growing, individual destinations are taking security concerns seriously. Numerous cities and regions throughout Mexico, including Mexico City, Playa del Carmen and Los Cabos, are taking aggressive steps to beef up their security infrastructure. In the case of Los Cabos, for example, the region has invested $47 million to implement a new "five-point action plan to ensure the safety of all tourists and citizens."
TravelPulse Senior Editor Monica Poling & Mexico Senior Editor Lydia Gregory contributed to this story.
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