Words of warning over travel to Mexico

March 14, 3:16 PMSan Diego Travel ExaminerSteve Perez

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Passing this one along in the event your San Diego travels include plans for a trip south of the border...

As you may know, the U.S. State Department earlier this week  issued a travel alert for Mexico travelers due to  increased  violence and murders by warring drug organizations.

The alert  warns against travel to border cities such as nearby Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez, across from El Paso, Texas, Nogales.

The U.S. considers the situation so grave that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has scheduled a trip to Mexico March 25-26. (A threatened visit from Ms. Clinton should  scare anyone straight.)

Travel industry pros are now going on the offensive.  On Thursday, March 12, industry newspaper Travel Weekly hosted a "topical virtual forum".  The 35 minute "webcast"  for travel agents was presented by Funjet and Travel Impressions, companies who earn their revenues by  packaging tours to Mexican resorts and other areas.

"The U.S. Department of State's Mexico Travel Alert has been broadly misinterpreted,"  said Mike Going,  Funjet president . "The misinterpretation of the alert, not the actual violence in U.S./Mexico border towns, is what is affecting tourism to Mexico."

The travel pros sought to emphasize that the alert's intent is to  advise travelers to "use common sense precautions", not to "discourage people from vacationing" there.

  Common sense advice includes:

• staying only in tourist areas
• visiting businesses and travel roads only during daylight
• avoiding areas of prostitution or drug-dealing
• avoiding displays of such valuables as jewelry or cash

Despite the industry's protests, a very real fear exists among U.S. travelers. Some spouses I know currently refuse to consider any Mexico destinations, while a male friend recently expressed concern about his son's planned visit to a Mexican resort with his ex-wife.
 

Such fears (and resulting decrease in U.S. tourism to Mexico) can be expected to continue until the Mexican government gets a handle on its tremendous problem of corruption and violence related to the drug trade.