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MISCONCEPTION

When I first created the PEOPLE’S CHOICE GUIDE CANCUN Travel Survey Guidebook, I spent quite a bit of time on the Internet doing research, and on bulletin boards such as the Cancún Forum on Tripadvisor, answering travelers’ questions. These days I find myself spending much more time on the topic of the drug war, instead of answering questions about hotels, tours, and the various types cuisine served at local area restaurants.

Ever since the highly publicized drug war being played out in the media on an almost daily basis, I have been overwhelmed with trying to convince people that Cancun is still safe. In addition to this challenge, when compared to other vacation destinations, there has been virtually no advertising. Even though it is the single most visited Caribbean destination, it is unrealistic to think that the city can compete with the advertising budgets of other Caribbean countries such as Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Aruba. However with the absense of advertising, people naturally assume that if they aren’t hearing anything positive, this must mean something bad is going on, like drug cartel violence. What makes the lack of promoting Cancun an even bigger mystery, is the fact that an investment of $71 million Dollars U.S. was made to completely restore the beaches by the beginning of 2010. After months of negative press, the Mexico Travel Board finally announced a new ad campaign on August 9, 2010:

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20100809005364&newsLang=en

After reading the press release, the question that entered my mind was “why no mention of Cancun and the newly restored beaches?" I think it is extremely important to point out that Cancun is located roughly 1,500 miles away from the border where the majority of the drug war violence has been taking place. I only wish that the Mexico Tourism Board would consider airing TV commercials showing Cancun on a map so everyone could see how far it is from the border for themselves. This would certainly make my life, and the lives of the Cancunenses who depend on the tourist trade, so much easier.

PERCEPTION

Perhaps the best way to judge if Cancun is safe enough to visit is to ask yourself this; with gang violence in Chicago and the murder rate on the rise, would this prevent you from visiting Miami’s South Beach? Obviously there is violent crime in every major city, but this doesn’t stop people from visiting them, including Chicago. With that said, I have posted a number of news articles and a fairly informative BBC documentary from youtube.com about México's drug war. I will also be posting more articles, opinion pieces and videos on my next blog about the problems happening along the border. While the information is from very different sources, there is one common theme that all the videos and articles share… there is no mention of Cancún being dangerous! While there have been recent events that show Cancun is not immune to the drug cartels' infiltration, including the mayor being arrested on corruption charges, there have been no reports of tourists being caught up in the violence.

The following is a link to a great article, with one of my favorite quotes, “Popular tourist areas remain the safest places in the country, and Stratfor singles out Cozumel, Cancún and Los Cabos as the safest of all.” Read more:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/06/02/mexicomix060210.DTL#ixzz0xD5EllNZ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/06/02/mexicomix060210.DTL

USA Today published an informative story that also doesn’t mention Cancún as being a dangerous place to visit. What's even more important about this article is the reliance on statistics, instead of feelings. I especially love the part that reads,“The state with the lowest murder rate is Yucatán, the Gulf of Mexico state known for its beaches and Mayan ruins. Its murder rate of 2 per 100,000 was comparable to Wyoming and Montana.”:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-08-03-Mexico-drug-violence_N.htm

Earlier this year, the BBC produced a rather interesting documentary describing many different angles and a little about the history of the drug war in México. While they visit several locations and discuss the problems of violence that is taking place around the country, the one place that is never mentioned is Cancun.

In order to view the entire documentary, after each part reaches its conclusion, simply scroll down to the next installment and click the arrow in the center of the screen to start the next installment, enjoy:

PART ONE BBC documentary – México’s Drug War 2010