Setbacks don’t deter Mexican tourist popularity
Bad press. Travel warnings. And even the Texas Department of Public Safety has urged Spring Breakers to avoid traveling to Mexico as a result of continued violence throughout the country.
But with all its ongoing image problems that never seem to stop, Mexico has historically been the top foreign country visited by Americans for more than two decades.
And despite all, that’s expected to continue this year.
Not much more than a decade ago Mexico welcomed 16 million Americans. In 2010, that number reached 20 million, according to the US Department of Commerce.
The Mexico Tourism Board estimates that 52 million domestic and international tourists will visit the southeastern part of the country in 2012.
There are at least two major reasons why tourism continues to grow there.
One is that Mexico has promoted visitors from emerging markets. And aggressive public relations campaigns have also helped counter the perception that Mexico is unsafe.
“The southeast consists of resort areas such as Cancun, Cozumel and Playa del Carmen, as well as Mayan cultural destinations, a key area of focus for the tourist board in 2012,” says CNN. The site adds:
“Analysts say efforts to direct tourists to the southeast reflect the experience of most visitors to the country who stay away from areas in northern Mexico plagued by cartel-related violence.”
The US State Department issued a travel warning to Americans to avoid all but essential travel to all or parts of 14 of 31 Mexican states. No advisory is in effect for Yucatan, Quintana Roo or Campeche, states that make up the Yucatan Peninsula, or for that matter, Mexico City, the nation's capital.
"The fact that tourist destinations along the Mayan Riviera still remain safe is further underscored by the State Department's most recent travel warnings, which shows that not all of Mexico is experiencing increased violence as a result of efforts to confront organized crime," said Miguel Salazar of the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington.
"While there are security concerns in certain areas in the country, particularly in the north, travel to traditional tourist destinations along the Mayan Riviera remain safe," said Salazar.
And while the State Department's travel warning puts Mexico in the company of Syria, Libya and North Korea, none of those countries is described by the State Department as a place where "millions of U.S. citizens safely visit" for study, tourism and business.
While the violence is generally confined to specific areas, Mexico’s tourists keep coming even when there are unexpected incidents such as Carnival Cruise Line passengers robbed during a shore excursion in the Mexican seaside resort of Puerto Vallarta in the state of Jalisco.
"I can assure this is an isolated, rare incident that shouldn't have happened," Rudolfo Lopez Negrete, chief operating officer of the Mexico Tourism Board, told CNN.
By David Wilkening
David
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