Mexico Travel Advisory Update

(Dive Travel Business News - February 17, 2012) --  The U.S. Department of State has updated its travel warning for Mexico to inform U.S. citizens about the security situation in the country and is detailing what areas are affected and which ones are not. This travel warning supersedes the Travel Warning for Mexico dated April 22, 2011.

The State Department’s updated travel warning for tourists planning to visit Mexico has the distinction of being more specific than previous versions. They include information on drug violence on a state-by-state and city-by-city basis. The travel warning urges Americans to defer nonessential travel to all or parts of the these 14 states: Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, Guerrero, Jalisco, Michoacan and Nayarit. Travelers should also exercise caution visiting all or parts of Baja California, Colima and Morelos.

The previous US travel warning issued for Mexico by the State Department, dated in April, advised American to avoid travel to all or parts of 10 states.

No travel advisories are in effect for such popular tourist areas as the state of Quintana Roo (Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, Riviera Maya and Tulum), southern Baja California (Cabo San Lucas), Guanajuato (San Miguel de Allende and Leon), Oaxaca (Oaxaca, Huatluco and Puerto Escondido) and Chiapas (San Cristobal de las Casas), as well as Mexico City, Puerto Vallarta and nearby Riviera Nayarit.

Shootouts, kidnappings and carjackings have climbed, as have cartels, also known as transnational criminal organizations (TCO).  The State Department alert says, "The TCOs themselves are engaged in a violent struggle to control drug trafficking routes and other criminal activity. As a result, crime and violence are serious problems throughout the country and can occur anywhere. US citizens have fallen victim to TCO activity, including homicide, gun battles, kidnapping, carjacking and highway robbery."

The report also notes that millions of US citizens safely visit Mexico each year for study, tourism and business. Despite the warnings, Mexico last year attracted a record number of visitors. And while the number of air travelers from the United States to Mexico fell by 3% last year, tourists from other countries — especially Brazil, Russia, Peru and China — registered sizable increases over 2010. Mexico remains a relatively affordable destination and, generally speaking, the tourist centers of well-known resort areas such as Cancun and Los Cabos have not suffered drug-related violence.

The State Department’s latest alert is drawing praise from tourism officials who in the past have been highly critical of the government’s warnings. Rodolfo Lopez-Negrete, chief operating officer for the Mexico Tourism Board, said, "The Mexico Tourism Board has long advocated for travel advisories which abide by three key tenets: context, clarity and specificity. The revised US State Department travel advisory regarding Mexico adheres to these principles and should serve as model for the rest of the world."

For updated information, call 888-407-4747 or 202-501-4444, or visit www.travel.state.gov.

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