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Tourists on a Mexican beach - Source: Reuters
Fears of drug violence spreading to beaches and colonial towns
are driving away tourists and threatening Mexico's crucial tourism
industry, already battered by last year's swine flu outbreak.
Gory news reports of daily shootouts between drug cartel hitmen are
fuelling concerns among North Americans and Europeans that Mexico
is increasingly unsafe, even if most of the violence is along the
US border, far from top tourist areas.
The number of international tourists flying into the Pacific beach
resort of Acapulco, where rival hitmen have fought brazen gun
battles in recent months, fell by almost a quarter in the first
three months of this year, airport operator OMA said.
International arrivals to the popular Caribbean resort of Cancun
fell four percent in the same period, according to airport operator
Asur.
They are peak months in Cancun as many tourists escape from
winter at home, and US students traditionally flood Mexico on their
spring break.
Almost 20,000 people have died in the fight between cartels and
Mexican security forces. Violence has worsened dramatically since
the start of the year, with 1,000 deaths across Mexico in March,
the bloodiest month since President Felipe Calderon launched his
crackdown on drug gangs in late 2006.
Police found six men shot dead and piled in a heap on Tuesday near
the colonial city of Cuernavaca, located about 80 km from Mexico
City.
The killings came four days after drug gangs hung the bodies of
two men off a major bridge in the city, a weekend getaway popular
with tourists.
Mexico's tourism industry is still likely to grow in 2010 compared
to last year, when fears of swine flu emptied beaches, but
businesses worry a perception of danger hangs over Mexico that
could continue to undermine the industry.
"The fall in foreign tourists in Cancun is certainly noticeable.
Mexico's bad image abroad means tourists, mostly the Americans, are
not coming as much," said Roberto Diaz, a leader of Cancun's
pleasure boat captains that ferry fishermen, divers and snorkelers
to nearby islands in the Caribbean.
So far this year, 24-hour beach parties and wet T-shirt contests in
Cancun have been toned down and its all-day bars such as Mango
Tango and Coco Bongo are more subdued.
"I'm afraid to go out at night and we prefer to stay in the
hotel," said 42-year-old tourist Ralph O'Donnell from North
Carolina.
The US State Department has warned against nonessential travel
along the US-Mexico border, especially in the violent cities of
Ciudad Juarez and in Tijuana, where hotel occupancy rates have
dropped to around 30 percent.
Americans who used to come for the border night life, cheap tequila
and prescription medicines are staying away.
The University of Texas at Austin also recalled its students
studying in the northern manufacturing city of Monterrey, where
drug violence and violent crime are rampant.
"This isn't a crisis, but it is a red flag," said Rodrigo
Echagaray, an analyst at Scotia Capital in Mexico City.
"It's possible we won't have the significant growth we hoped
for."
Crimping recovery
Many business people blame the news media for exaggerating the
extent of drug murders, which are mainly between gang members and
corrupt police.
Mexico's beaches, Mayan ruins and colonial-era churches are far
from the conflict, they say.
"We are not seeing here the confrontations like in the cities in
the north of the country and the border," said Rodrigo de la Pena
Segura, head of Cancun's hotel association.
But the killing of three people linked to the US consulate in
Ciudad Juarez last month provoked outrage from US President Barack
Obama and put new pressure on Mexico.
Shootings between hitmen and police also have increased this year
in the Pacific beach resort of Mazatlan.
"Perception is everything when it comes to leisure travel," said
Rick Seaney, chief executive of airline price comparison website
FareCompare.com. Seaney said other countries have been able to
raise prices on flights following the recession but airlines are
still offering cut rate deals to Mexico.
With more than 20 million visitors a year, Mexico is one of the
world's top destinations.
Tourism makes up eight percent of Mexico's economy.
Spending by tourists in Mexico fell 15% in 2009, hit by swine
flu and the global recession.
Now the government is banking on a rebound, but forums on travel
websites are filled with queries from prospective tourists
frightened by the drug war.
Many cite false claims, like a post that said a tourist was being killed every day.
