"Cancun is safe to travel" – US Department of State Travel Warning

Dear friends,

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) made a recent announcement in which it labeled Cancun as a non safe area to travel to for spring break this year.

Photo: Kim Farrell

From KVIA El Paso:

“For the third year in a row the Texas Department of Public Safety has issued a travel warning advising students to stay out of Mexico during Spring Break.”

The Mexico Tourism Board quickly responded denouncing the travel warning as “excessive”.

From Travel Weekly:

“To paint Mexico with such a massively broad brush stroke is simply outrageous,” said Rodolfo Lopez Negrete, COO of the Mexico Tourism Board.

The warning is similar to the one Texas issued in 2011, which did not draw distinctions between tourist zones and regions hit by violence. It is in stark contrast to the recently updated U.S. State Department warning, which was a more carefully worded warning that provided a state-by-state security assessment and indicated which cities and states are considered safe for travel and do not fall within the warning zone.

Although the federal warning urged travelers to defer nonessential travel to all or parts of 14 Mexican states, it excluded resort areas Cancun, Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta.

We also believe that the two different Travel Warnings (Texas DPS vs US State Dept.) are contradictory, and would put more trust into the Federal Travel Warning. While it is true that Mexico is currently going through a difficult situation of drug-related crime and battles between rival cartels, the resort areas have stayed almost completely unaffected in regards of safety for its visitors, with some isolated unfortunate incidents.

Photo: Diana Diaz

From Journey Mexico:

“Every year, millions of travelers from the United States cross into Mexico for business, pleasure or educational purposes. In fact, over 150,000 U.S. citizens venture into Mexico on a daily basis. The Mexican government spends a considerable amount of resources to protect tourists from both the U.S. and other countries. As a result, resorts and other tourist destinations do not have the type of drug-related crime that is seen in the border regions or along the primary trafficking routes. Plus, the State Department has found that there is no evidence that any organized criminal group in Mexico has targeted U.S. citizens based on their country of origin.

Mexico is a beautiful tourist destination, and it would be a shame to let the problems in a few specific regions put a damper on enjoying the rest of this friendly country. From time to time, the State Department issues Travel Warning reports to make sure U.S. citizens are aware of any international security concerns. The most recent report dated February 8, 2012 highlights areas that are considered safe for travel as well as areas without a current travel advisory.” 

We find it a little strange that the Texas Travel warning essentially contradicts the US Sate Dept Travel Warning when referring to resort areas such as Cancun. We believe that the best way to stay calmed about any subject or situation is to know as much as you can about it. In this case, by providing you information with the real facts about safety in Cancun, the Riviera Maya and Mexico, we believe you can inform yourself and have enough knowledge to make a personal decision based on the facts you now know.

We hope you give this beautiful part of Mexico a try; we’ll be happy to welcome you to paradise anytime!

Photo: Clyo Ololiuqui 

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