The U.S. State Department increased this week the preexisting travel warning for U.S.-Americans visiting Mexico. Travelers are now being warned to avoid travel to all or at least part of 14 of the 31 Mexican states. This is the largest advisory issued for Mexican travel since the State Department began warning U.S.-Americans in 2006 about the dangers associated with drug cartel-related violence. The travel advisory is being widened now as a result of an alleged recent increase in the number of U.S. victims of violence in Mexico. According to the State Department, 120 U.S.-American citizens were murdered in Mexico in 2011. Many more were allegedly the victims of assaults, kidnappings and carjackings.
Not only has the geographic range increased in this newest Mexican travel advisory, but the current warning is perhaps the most site specific one issued to date by the State Department. In particular, Arizonans are being urged to avoid travel to Nogales, Sonora, as well as the popular beach destination Puerto Peñasco, otherwise known as Rocky Point. Rocky Point was first specifically mentioned in a State Department warning in 2011, but this is the first time Nogales has been specifically mentioned.
Many in Southern Arizona and Sonora are less than thrilled with this newest State Department advisory and argue that the danger to U.S.-Americans visiting Mexico is at least overstated. Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada, for example, argues that Arizonans simply should not be afraid to visit Sonora, and travelers are only likely to find themselves in danger if they act thoughtlessly and visit areas they clearly should not enter. There may be some evidence in support of Estrada’s argument as there was not a single murder of a U.S. citizen recorded in Rocky Point last year.
Many in the Arizona-Sonora border region lament the continued focus by the State Department on warning U.S.-Americans against travel to Mexico, as the effect on local Mexican tourism has already been devastating. Both Rocky Point and Nogales have been severely impacted by the recent precipitous drop in travelers visiting these tourism-dependent cities.
Now there is some evidence that these travel warnings could be having negative economic impacts even north of the border. Tucson businesses that arrange international visits, for example, are now catering to a much more limited clientele. Until U.S.-Americans feel more comfortable traveling to Mexico, one can assume that these economic impacts will only worsen.
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