[Travelandtourism] Mexico Travel Alert Revision

[cheryl echevarria]

Subject: FYI: Mexico Travel Alert Revision


Travel Alert Revision Overview

February 23rd, 2010

Overview:

The US Department of State has extended a travel alert to Mexico. The text 
of the alert has remained virtually unchanged, with a few additional border 
areas being added to the list of those where extra caution is recommended.

The travel alert expresses no concern whatsoever regarding Mexican beach 
resorts and key tourist and business destinations. Tourist areas are safe to 
travel to, which means that the vast majority of U.S. citizens visiting 
Mexico should not have any hesitation in doing so.

Mexico's tourist destinations and resort properties remain fun, safe, 
affordable and popular vacation destinations. Indeed, Mexico remains the 
number one international destination for U.S. tourists.

Regarding the alert renewal, here are a few points that we consider is 
important to know, in case your costumers or partners ask about it:

This is not a new alert. It is an extension of an alert already in place.

What has been extended is a travel alert, not a warning. Travel warnings are 
issued to describe long-term, protracted conditions that make a country 
dangerous or unstable, and/or when the U.S. Government's ability to assist 
American citizens is constrained due to the closure of an embassy or 
consulate or because of a drawdown of its staff. A travel alert, on the 
other hand, disseminates information about short-term conditions of which 
U.S. citizens abroad should be aware to maximize their safety.





The alert for Mexico does not discourage U.S. citizens from traveling to the 
country's tourist destinations.

The main tourist destinations for U.S. citizens are geographically far from 
the very specific areas included in the alert. For example, Cancun and 
Acapulco are at least a two-hour flight away from the main areas identified 
in the alert. The distance from Cancun to Ciudad Juarez is 1,312 miles - 
approximately the same distance between New York and Miami (1,290 miles), 
Chicago and Laredo, Texas (1,395 miles), or Los Angeles to Oklahoma City 
(1,328 miles).

More than 21.5 million international tourists visited Mexico in 2009. Air 
arrivals from the U.S. in December 2009 were up approximately 6.2% from 
December 2008, demonstrating that U.S. travelers view Mexico's unique 
vacation destinations and attractions as safe and violence in northern 
Mexico as unrelated to Mexico's principal tourist destinations.

More than one million Americans reside in Mexico.

Please feel free to contact the Mexico Tourism Board if you have any 
questions or doubts.

_________________

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