The U.S. State Department has up to date its journey warnings for quite a few areas of Mexico in response to the March 3 kidnapping of 4 Americans within the border city of Matamoros, Mexico. The up to date warnings triggered a storm of articles highlighting Mexico as soon as once more as a dangerous journey vacation spot.
However, a better examination of the journey warnings and interviews with Mexican journey authorities and consultants reveal that they’re as soon as extra exaggerated and that visiting Mexico is simply as secure as regular.
“Advisors and myself are not spooked [by the abductions], as nobody I know is selling Matamoros as a travel destination,” stated Hope Smith, an impartial contractor with Montecito Village Travel. “We know where Matamoros is in relation to where our clients go.”
What is said within the journey advice?
The newest journey advisory from the U.S. Department of State contains an evaluation of every state the place the U.S. authorities advises vacationers to train warning. There are solely six states on the “Do Not Travel” listing, and none of them are widespread trip locations for Americans. The six states on the listing are:
- Colima
- Guerrero
- Michoacan
- Sinaloa
- Tamaulipas
- Zacatecas
An extra studying of the journey advisories on the State Department’s web site exhibits that whereas sure states are topic to a Level 2 journey warning, there aren’t any journey restrictions for many vacationer places in these states. These embody:
- Cabo San Lucas
- San Jose del Cabo
- La Paz
- Palenque
- San Cristobal de las Casas
- San Miguel de Allende
- Guanajuato City
- Puerto Vallarta
- Chapala
- Ajijic
- Mexico City
- Riviera Nayarit
- Oaxaca City
- Monte Alban
- Puerto Escondido
- Huatulco
- Puebla
- Cancun
- Cozumel
- Isla Mujeres
- Playa del Carmen
- Tulum
- Riviera Maya
- Mazatlan
- Yucatan State
Is Mexico secure to go to?
We are all used to listening to this query. The reply continues to be the identical. Mexico is an enormous nation. It can also be a secure place to journey, however like some other place, there are issues to pay attention to.
“I have not seen a drop off in requests, or much concern from my clients,” stated Sharon Walters, proprietor of Sharon Walters Travel. “I have families year after year that visit destinations such as Los Cabos and Punta Mita who are still planning on traveling this year. In fact, I have clients in Mexico on almost a weekly basis. The subject [of safety] does come up, but they are aware of the differences in destinations and understand that the resorts and locations are safe to travel to.”