Although not yet 100% in agreement on the subject of travel advisories, Mexico tourism officials and US State Department officials have established a good rapport and working relationship.
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Puerto Vallarta, Mexico — While Mexico tourism officials are pleased that the February US travel advisory was more specific in pinpointing areas of concern, “this subject remains a work in progress,” according to Rodolfo Lopez-Negrete, COO of the Mexico Tourism Board.
“We are not yet 100% satisfied, but we have come a long way since the April 2011 alert, which was very general in its language,” Lopez-Negrete said.
Mexico and US State Department officials “have established a good rapport and working relationship,” he said. “The recent warning did not blanket all of Mexico as dangerous. Instead, it was very clear and concise about where travelers should go and not go.”
Lopez-Negrete advocated the use of maps to accompany the warnings so that travelers can see exactly which areas of certain states are off-limits.
“However, Texas is a whole different ball game,” he said. “Texas is the only state in the US that issues its own travel warning. You don’t mess with Texas.”
While Lopez-Negrete said he respected Texas’ right to inform and protect its citizens, he said the state’s officials must correctly and specifically inform residents in regard to safety and security concerns in Mexico.
Despite Texas’ recent blanket advisory targeted specifically at spring breakers, many students appeared not to heed the warning. Although final numbers are not yet in, Lopez-Negrete said that occupancy figures in Mexico’s resort areas for the spring break period “are high, well over 2011.”
It is, about time that they are more specific, with the city's or areas, that are a problem, and not just blanket, the entire state, in that case, our state of Arizona,, would be completely blanketed, because there are problems, at the border, or in Phoenix, or Tucson.
It is easier for those of us, that actually travell in Mexico, to avoid or bypass, the problen places, also remember, that some foreign individuals, that are in Mexico, are not your regular tourtist, but are actually, in cahoots with the cartels, and they do not travel in RV's.
Now we might have, a more acurate picture, of the areas to avoid.
This is a cut and paste from facebook in which mw wife replied to one of her friends that had visited Mexico a few times in the past and who we met in La Penita in 2005. Her friend had indicated that they were not comfortable traveling in Mexico anymore because of all the travel alerts.
"Xxxxx, it's not unsafe to travel in Mexico if you don't buy or sell drugs, stay away from the brothels and don't go to the local cantina. I know none of us do any of those things. Now, with that being said, there's never been a killing of an RVer in Mexico. Two that I know of have had their rigs taken under pretty frightening circumstances but they were unharmed. We've traveled the highways, byways, dirt paths and roads in Mexico and never felt that we weren't safe. The same goes for our hundreds of fellow RVers in La Penita. The safety rules are the same in Mexico as the U.S.A. Take safety precautions, don't stop in the border towns unless it's Algadones, don't do any of the illegal things I mentioned above and above all else obey the laws and have respect when you're in another country. Much of the hype is coming from our own government for whatever reasons. Right before we left to spend 6 months in Mexico, 3 people were murdered in Carson City by a gunman who walked into a restaurant and shot them. I've eaten in that restaurant but that doesn't mean I won't go to Carson City or eat in that restaurant ever again. Don't let the hype keep you from Mexico. I didn't mean to hijack your post but I feel very strongly about some of the misconceptions about Mexico because of the news media, the government, etc. If we thought for a minute that we weren't safe, we wouldn't go and neither would the other several million visiters from the U.S.A and Canada. I'd love for you two to visit again, so much beauty to share. Think of all the ideas for paintings. I know you have a bus load of pics already but there's always something new."
Stan & Linda
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