Hate crowds? Travel to Mexico

June 30, 12:30 AMSan Diego Travel ExaminerSteve Perez

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Photo: Associated Press

The Mexican tourism industry has taken it in la boca  this year thanks to the  triple whammy of the H1N1 viral outbreak, warnings over drug violence and the down economy.  So for those adventurous enough to vamanos, bargains await and crowds are few, according to reports.

An Associated Press dispatch in June details the serendipitous experience of a Seattle resident who, with his friends, decided to head to Mexico and came away delighted to have an entire resort almost to themselves.

His friend reported paying a mere $142 a week for a rental car originally booked at $350.

Chains such as Real Resorts Mexican promise free vacations a year for three years if a guest comes down with H1N1 within two weeks of the end of their stay.

Rooms at many Mexican resort destinations are being offered at steep discounts.

As of this writing, the travel booking site  Expedia.com is offering flights and stays to Cancun at up to an  70 percent off.

In the Los Angeles Times, Mexican journalist Andres Martinez appealed in its editorial pages to, in effect, help a brother out.

"Mexico needs the help of all Americans," he writes, "Either by booking a week's holiday on the beaches of Puerto Vallarta or Los Cabos, or visiting Mexico City, or any of the colonial towns in the heart of the country. This is for the common good."

So take your pick, you can either be a mercenary and take advantage of a beaten down neighbor, or appeal to your softer side by helping boost a flagging tourist trade of a key local neighbor.

Either way, the word from down south makes for quite the call of la sirena.