by TeresaCalles on Wed Oct 28, 2009 9:58 pm
I feel it is important for me to write a little about what I feel to be an unfair treatment about Mexico in the news.
Tourism is the 3rd largest part of our economy, and many people depend on tourism and foreign investment.
Recently, Mexico has suffered a trifecta of bad press resulting in a huge drop in tourism revenue. I would like to address these issues one by one, separate the facts from the myths and hopefully inspire some people to travel south.
First - The swine flu. Let's be clear about this. It's the flu, nothing more. This may be a shock to some people, but over 100,000 people die every year from the flu (mostly in tropical climates) Maybe it sounds scary, but putting a name like 'swine' in front of 'flu' doesn't make it any more dangerous than your normal flu. If you are considering not traveling to Mexico because of this, just think - would you cancel a trip to Europe because you heard people were getting the flu? It sounds exotic, it sounds scary (which is why the media picked up on it) but it's all hype.
Second - The drug related violence. This is a bigger problem, and one that Mexico will have to address in a serious way very soon. However, if you watch the news you are left with the impression that the whole country is erupting in uncontrollable violence. This is not true either. The violence is segregated to isolated areas (like the border towns) and in no way are tourists or foreigners being targeted. On the contrary, the tourist destinations have so far resisted the influence of the cartels because of the availability of legitimate jobs. Typically the drug trade takes root where economic conditions are depressed and people are forced to deal in contraband.
Third - the economic downturn/crisis. This was unavoidable, at least from Mexico's standpoint. Naturally tourism will become depressed in a recession and many people who would have otherwise traveled to Mexico now cannot afford to. Nevertheless, this has had 2 positive affects for people now considering going south. Hotels are running at very low occupancy rates, so they are desperate for clients. Many hotels are running specials, just call and see what they can do for you. Also, the historically strong Peso has devalued 30% from it's high last August - which means 30% off everything in the country.
That being said the Hotel Barcelo chain has always proven to be one of the best in my experience as well for a great all around all-inclusive experience. I’m looking forward to the opening of a new location in Los Cabos in December.
. The Barcelo hotel in Cabo is under construction, with an opening date of December 1st. Just go to thehotelofyourdreams.com/?33 and write a review of what kind of hotel room you would like to stay in. 25% off for early reservations, up to 20% (5% for each comment on the site) Total of 45%. It seems like a pretty awesome deal and likely going on because the new location is just openeing.
