Tourist Zones Up To 26 Times Safer In Mexico than the U.S.A. – If you’re thinking about taking a trip to Mexico but are still concerned about safety, let this study released by RE/MAX Investment Properties, put things into perspective. The homicide rate research indicates that major tourist zones in Mexico are up to 26 times safer than some tourist zones in the U.S.A.
The figures also show that Mexican tourist zones are even safer when the homicide rate is compared with major cities in the U.S.A. and Canada, where many tourists to Mexico have their homes. The Mexican state of Baja California Sur – location of tourist zones Los Cabos, La Paz and Loreto – has a homicide rate 26 times lower than Orlando, 18 times lower than Miami, 17 times lower than West Palm Beach, 12 times lower than Tampa and half that of Honolulu.
Survey supports that Mexico is a Safe Tourist Destination
Posted on March 17, 2009
Results are contrary to media and consumers’ misconceptions
March 17/PRNewswire/ – The recently updated Mexico Travel Alert has been broadly misinterpreted by media and consumers. The alert does not discourage U.S. citizens from traveling to Mexico, but instead encourages travelers to take common sense precautions to ensure that travel to Mexico is safe and enjoyable. To get a pulse on how vacationers who recently returned from Mexico felt about their safety and experience, The Mark Travel Corporation (parent company to Funjet Vacations) initiated and aggregated a consumer survey.
From March 6 – 15, 2009, more than 900 responses were received from travelers who took a vacation to Mexico between October 2008 and March 2009. The results were overwhelmingly positive with 97% of those surveyed indicating they would return to Mexico for another vacation and 90% of all respondents agreeing to the statement “I felt safe and secure.” Of the respondents who agreed to feeling safe and secure, 92% traveled in 2009 and 88% traveled in 2008, indicating that a growing number of travelers felt safe and secure in Mexico in 2009.
There were some travelers, only 9%, who indicated they felt unsafe at some time during their vacation in Mexico and less than 1% of respondents felt unsafe while on the resort property. The vast majority of reasons for feeling unsafe reflected isolated concerns that were not related to personal or physical safety.
The majority of respondents vacationed in Cancun/Riviera Maya, the most popular leisure destination in Mexico, which is more than 1,300 miles from the nearest U.S./Mexico border town referred to in the updated Mexico Travel Alert. Other respondents also vacationed in major tourist destinations including Puerto Vallarta, Cozumel, Los Cabos, Ixtapa, Acapulco and Mazatlan. These destinations are a minimum of 375 miles (the distance from Mazatlan to Chihuahua) from any U.S./Mexico border town. To view a map of Mexico that includes tourist destinations, border towns and mileage, visit Mexico-Update.com, a Web site recently launched by the Mexico Tourism Board to address travelers’ questions about travel and safety in Mexico.
“The survey respondents confirmed Funjet’s position that Mexico continues to be an amazing, safe and fun vacation destination. The results should give other travelers confidence to plan a Mexico vacation,” stated Mike Going, President of Funjet Vacations. “We encourage consumers to get the facts about the Mexico Travel Alert from their travel agent or Funjet.com/pressroom. The concentration of drug cartel violence that caused the U.S. Department of State to update the alert is hundreds, and in some cases thousands, of miles away from Cancun, Riviera Maya, Puerto Vallarta and other main tourist areas.”
There was no incentive or giveaway associated with the survey and travel agents were encouraged to send it to any of their clients who recently returned from Mexico and traveled with Funjet Vacations or another tour operator.
This article first appeared at: http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS159527+18-Mar-2009+PRN20090318
El Paso, TX is one of the safest cities in the U.S. with a population over 500,000. This is according to the Morgan Quinto Press, which monitors the crime, education, and health rankings of cities and states.
El Paso is across the border from Ciudad Juarez, with all of the drug cartel violence. This indicates that the violence is not directed against U.S. citizens because this would increase the border vigilance of Mexico and of the U.S. Increased vigilance is not what the cartels want.
Amigo Trails has hosted thousands of travelers since 2001 to the states of Chihuahua, Sonora and Sinaloa without a single incident of violence directed against the travelers. These statistical facts indicate that travel to Copper Canyon is very safe.
Is it safe to travel to Mexico? Judging from the numbers, many are saying ‘Yes’
Despite tales of drug violence, visitation to Mexico was up almost 19% over last year, as of September. And with 22.6 million tourists expected by year’s end, numbers will about equal the record-breaking totals in 2008. About 80% of visitors are North American. In fact, slightly more foreigners are vacationing in Mexico now than before the drug wars, which have killed about 30,000 (mostly drug traffickers) in the past four years, The Economist reported in November. Mexico now ranks No. 10 in international arrivals worldwide.
Read this USA TODAY article for more information.
Mexico’s tourism secretary debunks fears and fictions
In the hourlong webinar, titled “Mexico: Perception vs. Reality,” Guevara assured her host, Travel Weekly Editor in Chief Arnie Weissmann, and thousands of registered webinar participants that Mexico is a safe tourist destination.
Despite a steady stream of negative coverage in the U.S. news media regarding drug-related gang violence along the border and around Acapulco, she said, Mexico remains a popular, safe and, most importantly, value-rich vacation destination.
“All countries or societies have problems to solve,” Guevara said, “but Mexico is one of the top 10 tourist destinations in the world.”
Read this Travel Weekly article for more information.
