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Crime in Mexico: If deadly Mazatlan is out, how about Cancun?
Trying to hang on to it's self-proclaimed "No. 1 vacation destination in the Caribbean" title, Cancun is beefing up security reports USAToday.
"The safest people here are the tourists," Erandeni Abundis of the Cancun Convention & Visitors Bureau "We depend on tourism. We couldn't afford to lose it." Proactive Cancun has beefed up their web site too with clear, easy to find information and believable video content.
Indeed, tourism is a major factor in Mexico's economy. Cancun alone boasts 5.9 million international visitors last year, up over 400,000 from 2009. But with tourism numbers down, rather than whining about it like Mazatlan has, Cancun is taking clear steps to send a message of safety.
Tourists can now dial 911 for an emergency rather than a confusing local number, uniformed customs officers with assault rifles stand watch over visitors at the airport and a dozen highly-visible "tourist advisors" greet visitors, directing them to approved airport transportation.
Still, news of crime in Mexico, attacks on tourists and just general worldwide unrest in the travel sector has tour operators and tourism officials working overtime to set the record straight.
Funjet vacations flew hundreds of travel agents in to see first-hand the situation on the ground hoping to beef up bookings which should be strong right now. According to Funjet, "traffic to Mexico is challenged."
While colleges are on break, the beach is not packed. Hotel occupancy at 71% this week is down from a traditional 80+% at this time of the year reports the Cancun Hotel Association.
The up side of all this is that prices in Cancun are better than ever.
One major travel agency in Cancun laments: "every time this comes...less tourism and it causes Cancun to die slowly." reports 630ched.com adding "So, if you're dreaming of a spring break on the Mexican Caribbean but lack "mucho dinero", you might want to cash in on Cancun's misfortune."
Many have too. In defiance of a Texas Department of Safety warning to stay out of Mexico on spring break, college students are flocking to Cancun, the closest Mexico destination to the border with few problems reported.
"We haven't been beheaded," Archer, a 26-year-old dental assistant, says with a grin. "We've had no problems. People need to chill out."
Flickr photo by ItsVernon
"The safest people here are the tourists," Erandeni Abundis of the Cancun Convention & Visitors Bureau "We depend on tourism. We couldn't afford to lose it." Proactive Cancun has beefed up their web site too with clear, easy to find information and believable video content.
Indeed, tourism is a major factor in Mexico's economy. Cancun alone boasts 5.9 million international visitors last year, up over 400,000 from 2009. But with tourism numbers down, rather than whining about it like Mazatlan has, Cancun is taking clear steps to send a message of safety.
Tourists can now dial 911 for an emergency rather than a confusing local number, uniformed customs officers with assault rifles stand watch over visitors at the airport and a dozen highly-visible "tourist advisors" greet visitors, directing them to approved airport transportation.
Still, news of crime in Mexico, attacks on tourists and just general worldwide unrest in the travel sector has tour operators and tourism officials working overtime to set the record straight.
Funjet vacations flew hundreds of travel agents in to see first-hand the situation on the ground hoping to beef up bookings which should be strong right now. According to Funjet, "traffic to Mexico is challenged."
While colleges are on break, the beach is not packed. Hotel occupancy at 71% this week is down from a traditional 80+% at this time of the year reports the Cancun Hotel Association.
The up side of all this is that prices in Cancun are better than ever.
One major travel agency in Cancun laments: "every time this comes...less tourism and it causes Cancun to die slowly." reports 630ched.com adding "So, if you're dreaming of a spring break on the Mexican Caribbean but lack "mucho dinero", you might want to cash in on Cancun's misfortune."
Many have too. In defiance of a Texas Department of Safety warning to stay out of Mexico on spring break, college students are flocking to Cancun, the closest Mexico destination to the border with few problems reported.
"We haven't been beheaded," Archer, a 26-year-old dental assistant, says with a grin. "We've had no problems. People need to chill out."
Flickr photo by ItsVernon
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
DJ Mar 28th 2011 11:13AM
Forget Mazatlan. Forget Cancun. If you want a fantastic Mexican vacation, go to Huatulco. It's about as far south in Mexico as you can go. The bays are stunning, the area is incredibly clean, the people are the warmest and friendliest in Mexico, it isn't crowded, it's still a relative bargain and most of all, it is safe! We were there last Spring and fell in love with it. However, it is not an area for Spring Breakers like college kids, oriented totally for families and couples.
geri Mar 28th 2011 2:18PM
dj.. i am going to check that out.. i hope you read my coment.. i mean.. does the mexican tourism board REALLY think people r confusing mazatlan and cancun? i for one, have been to cancun many times.. right now.. the airlines are gouging fares for spring .. the expedia packages and orbitz packages are about as much as going to europe, climbing ever closer to the price of going to the maldives!! (lol) seriously.. since the mexican tourism board has no say over USA airline pricing.. they ought to really try n price out what americans are looking at.. the hotels need to lower their pricing.. $ 249.00 per night was the average cancun hotel pricing.. i scouted dates in april, may and july.. no bargains there.. thanks for your hualtulco suggestion i am gonna look into that at once!!
Russell Mar 28th 2011 3:05PM
I agree with you 100% We are leaving this weekend on our 2nd trip to Hualtuco. Loved it and cant wait to go back!
Greg Mar 28th 2011 7:31PM
Good grief! I posted here a few hours ago, and stopped by to assess the consenus. As I read a few pages, it struck me as terribly sad that so many respondants are biggoted, rascist, virtually illiterate hate mongers, who offer no support for their venomous screeds.
Listen to the people, who have been to Cancun. Ignore the conservative rantings of those with no credible basis for their juvenile comments.
¡Diviértase en Cancun!
geri Mar 28th 2011 2:10PM
i COMPLETELY disagree.. look at any popular travel sites (expedia, orbitz, etc) and you will see the flights to these places are waaay overpriced.. the hotels r at 71 percent capacity because in a difficult american economy, noone can afford the airfare.. even when it is booked into a package.. i tried to go to cancun (pricing it out on popular travel sites) in april.. kow what i got from newark nj to cancun for a week at a non all inclusive(non food) hotel? $2,300.00 .. some were priced lower .. but nothing was below 1,600 per person with a non stop flight..
try it yourself.. try booking a week for under 1500.00 in april.. or even may.. these hotels need to come down in pricing even lower to offset the gouging by the airlines in the us
Dave Mar 28th 2011 2:34PM
I just took your challenge. I used aol's travel search option. Minneapolis to Cancun. April 12 - April 19 8 days - 7 nights. Prices were as low as $603 hotel and air with a direct flight! All inclusive resorts were priced as low as $900 with airfare! I think that is very fairly priced!
Tiffany Mar 28th 2011 3:00PM
I completely agree the prices are higher than I have seen them in years I go to Cancun every April this is by far the highest price I have ever payed by a long shot almost double! This article is full of it when it comes to the prices being down NO WAY!! But def I agree that it is a safe place to travel to.
Jen Mar 28th 2011 6:49PM
I do not agree with this at all. I stayed in Riviera Maya (about 30 min south of the city of Cancun) last summer and the price was perfect! All-inclusive for 7 nights including airfare, transportation to and from the airport, food, drinks, etc. and it was only $1200/person. My boyfriend and I had a wonderful time and would do it again in a heartbeat. All those travel sites rip you off. I went through an agent and she recommended apple vacations. They do everything for you. All you have to do is show up at the airport and enjoy yourself. They provided all the transportation to any excursions we decided on and they even gave us discounted prices on them. When you leave the resort, there are cops everywhere with rifles. It gives you a sense of security because they are trying to make it safer for everyone. The beaches are gorgeous and the coral reefs are definitely a site worth seeing! People need to chill out and stop being so paranoid.
krink Mar 31st 2011 7:03PM
My boyfriend and I Booked only 2 months in advance with a TON of options of all inclusive resorts 4 under 1000! That's with airfare included! Check out cheapcarribean.com! 7nites all inclusive with airfare for the 1st week in April we chose to pay 1000.00. The key would be don't wait until the week b4 to book!
mijsenrab Mar 29th 2011 11:31AM
We have more than enough illegal mexicans here in the states. Why would I spend my money to go see more of them and indirectly finance the Mexican government to encourage more of their citizens to come to the United States illegally?
Hugh Mar 28th 2011 8:53PM
Will never go back! Had fun up till the time to come home. The resort almost made us miss our early flight. When turning in our arm bands. The manager at the front desk tried to get us to leave a additional deposit for the room and phone. He said their system didn't always show calls withen 24 hrs. I told him we used cell phones. Really who doesn't. Then he wanted us to wait till someone checked the room to make sure everything was still there. I still wonder if he thought we could get the bed in our suitcase. Then the taxi driver would not take us to the airport unless we had a ticket from the front desk showing our bill had been satified. They wanted to argue. We pre paid for the vacation thru ORBITZ before we arrieved. To make it worse the taxi driver let us out at the wrong gate at the airport and was no way to walk to the gate of our departure so had to pay another taxi. Total taxi ride to airport in the AM when it was not busy $210.00 for 2 people. I hate Cancune. There is nothing there except a beach and a bunch of spanish speaking Mexicans.
tambo Mar 28th 2011 2:41PM
Well, it's really nice they now have provided a 911 for emergencies. One problem, there is so much corruption with their police that you are putting yourself in more danger if you call on them. My friend and her husband went to Cancun a few years ago. They were out taking a walk and were headed back to their resort around 10pm. Suddenly the Cancun police stopped them, took her and put her in the back of the police car, held her hostage until her husband agreed to pay them money for her release. I am really summarizing here - but needless to say, my friends were terrified! Just what were they going to do with her? If they put her in jail for some falsified charge, how would he ever get her out?
Since my friend's husband did not have enough cash on hand to satisfy the police demands, they put him in the back of the police car as well, and drove him to a teller. Once at the teller, he withdrew several hundred dollars and they finally agreed to release them.
Now, with the above said, what is a person to do when the crime is being conducted by the police? You can't call 911, can you! I've been to Cancun many, many times back in the 90's. However, since this happened to my friend, I will never go back. Travelers please beware!
William Richardson Mar 29th 2011 11:20PM
"If they put her in jail for some falsified charge, how would he ever get her out?" --More money. Ask the Texan who was put in prison-- his family ended up paying a total of $100,000 in fees and bribes to get him home. When asked if he would ever go to Mexico again, he just laughed at the reporter. And some people still want to give their tourist dollars to these people?
cliff Mar 28th 2011 4:13PM
If this incident happened around 10 PM, was this a bank teller the police took them to, or what kind of teller did they take him to to withdraw more money to pay off the police?
Tambo Mar 28th 2011 4:47PM
Let me clarify - when I referred to a teller - I meant an ATM. I am not certain which one, but I am sure there were many close by.
Holly Mar 28th 2011 5:31PM
So, now the police are picking up people off the street to pay for their "protection". The Mexican police are notoriously corrupt no matter where you are in Mexico. I traveled there with a friend who had relatives in Chihuahua 20 years ago. We were stopped by the police in our rental car on a trumped up infraction and my friend advised me not to complain. He coughed up $20 and they went away. He explained that rental cars or ones with American plates were routinely stopped and a gratuity was expected to avoid trouble as everyone in the judicial system is in on the scam. If you escalate the situation, you wind up paying more just to get the H out of the country. Mexico is a beautiful country but you couldn't pay me to go there. Besides, why would Americans want to spend money in a country that encourages illegals to come here and tax our infrastructure. The United States is a beautiful country, too; spend your tourist money here and help our economy. Mexico is far from safe and you travel there at your own risk no matter what part of the country you're in.
Drew Mar 28th 2011 7:57PM
I'm just dumbstruck at some of the preposterous stories here--and they are surely written by people who have never even set foot in Mexico, let alone Cancun. I've gone to Cancun every year for the past 6 years, and never had a problem. It's clean, safe and the people are extremely friendly. After having been there so many times, and even venturing out of the tourist area to the Centro, I am finding some of the "stories" here to be utterly ridiculous.
Tambo Mar 29th 2011 7:40AM
DREW - dumbstruck or just dumb? I used to travel to Cancun every year - sometimes two to three times thanks to my sister who owned a travel agency and got me terrific deals. I stayed at many of the resorts along the hotel zone (Oasis, Marriot CasaMagna, Fiesta Americana, Sheraton, Hyatt, etc.) I did the whole Senior Frogs/Daddy'os/Carlos & Charlies thing, ate at Ruth Chris and breakfast at Captain's Cove was always a must. Traveled to Isla Mujeres, Cozumel, did the Jungle Cruise, etc. The beaches are beautiful and most of the people were kind. But that was in the 90's up to 2000. Sadly, it's changed. Now - don't tell me I've never been to Cancun bud - you little twit! I've probably been there more times than you!
As for the sensible readers - I posted by blog as an FYI. It's a free country. If you feel lucky and want to go - more power to ya and I wish you the best. It's true that bad things happen everywhere, but I'm gonna vacation where I can at least call on the police with some sense of confidence. There have been too many crimes against tourists in Mexico in recent years. No - not to every single tourist, but to way too many. Unlike Drew who appears to think this is just a conspiracy and none of the reported crimes happened, I believe it is real and should be taken very seriously. PEACE!
neesee Mar 28th 2011 2:40PM
No one should even think of going to Mexico. Anywhere in Mexico. Unless they need their head chopped off. I don't know why anyone would go there anyway, it is filthy and full of thieves and murderers. I used to go there years ago and it was not the sweetest place on Earth then, so now would be just plain absurd.
secndmous Mar 28th 2011 2:47PM
Not to mention the problems with their water, anything made or washed in their water. And, the malaria risk in a good part of the country. Why any responsible parent would allow their kids to fo their is beyond me.