Violence keeping tourists away from Mexico

Cancun, Mexico - May 23rd, 2010: Tourist resort hotel overlooking the beach of Cancun

By Hannah Edensor

Hotel occupancy in Cancun has fallen 10 per cent, while hotels in Los Cabos on the other side of the country have suffered 35,000 nights of hotel stays in the coming year.

Additionally, international arrivals have dropped two per cent since September, marking the first decline in three years.

So what’s going on in Mexico that’s keeping tourists from visiting?

According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, despite the weak peso making for great exchange rates, it’s a wave of violence infringing on tourist hotspots that’s the cause for concern.

In November, gunmen opened fire at a Cancun nightclub, while Cabo San Lucas’ main strip – a popular destination for luxury travellers – was left shaken after a cooler containing two human heads was discovered.

But for the Mexican tourism industry, the biggest threat to its economy came when the US State Department issued a travel warning in August, advising travellers to avoid the country completely.

“Group tourism automatically went down the moment the warning hit,” head of the hotel association for Cancun and Puerto Morelos, Carlos Gosselin, told Chicago Tribune.

Furthermore, insurance companies are typically less likely to cover tourists who choose to visit a country in the face of cautionary travel warnings.

Per Chicago Tribune, Mexico’s economy experiences a $20 billion injection every year from tourism, however with murders four times higher in Los Cabos, and two times higher in Cancun, this income remains at risk.

But hotels, airport operators, and other tourism officials are doing their best to make guests feel safe, with chains like Hilton Worldwide and Marriott International spending big bucks to ensure top security is maintained.

Partnering with local and federal authorities in Los Cabos, this group is forking out $50 million, per Chicago Tribune, to up the surveillance on the main 32km stretch of hotels, restaurants and beaches.

“We understand and appreciate that travellers are more concerned than ever about their safety and security and we have rigorous security procedures in place at all of our hotels in Mexico,” Marriott told Chicago Tribune.

“Mexico continues to be a desirable destination for visitors from around the world and we’ve had very few cancellations for Holiday season due to this matter.”

Environmental factors such as hurricanes and earthquakes have also impacted the tourism economy.

Some speculate the travel warning was unnecessarily harsh and prompted by President Donald Trump’s shift in policies and attitude towards Mexico after his election.

“Ninety percent of the economic activity here is tied to tourism,” Rodrigo Esponda, Managing Director of the Los Cabos Tourism Board told the Chicago Tribune.

“That’s why security has to improve. We need tourism to continue improving people’s quality of life – and it’s a shared responsibility.”

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

Latest comments

Jeff Dwyer says:

April 1, 2018 at 7:35 am

Mexico and the USA are both on my no-go lists.

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