In light of the updated US Department of State Travel Warning for Mexico (August 22, 2017) and in response to many inquiries about the situation on the ground, below follows our comments and insight into Mexico’s current travel environment.
As the travel warning states, there has been an increase in conflicts between rival criminal organizations in various areas within in the country in 2017. Though these conflicts can be unpredictable, they are exclusively amongst and between organized crime groups. There has been no evidence that the organizations have or are targeting holiday travelers or civilians that are not related to illicit activity.
Though there are extremely isolated cases of holiday travelers being impacted by the actions of the criminal activity, those who were impacted were not targeted. It’s also important to mention that in general the locations of these episodes was generally far from tourism frequented zones with a couple of high profile, but anomalous cases.
The recent warning from the US government was brought about due to some recent criminal organization activity in the popular tourist destinations of Los Cabos and Riviera Maya. Due to recent territorial conflicts in these areas, there has been an increase in violence between criminal organizations. It is important to note that, again, these conflicts and any related violence have not and are not targeting holiday travelers. There has been no violence against tourists within hotels or resorts or traveling to or from any of the main tourist attractions in the area.
Many areas of Mexico, such as the popular state of Yucatan and city of Merida, and throughout the Central Highlands in destinations such as San Miguel de Allende and Mexico City, have no travel warnings at all. That said, general precautions, as one would take when traveling anywhere in world, should always be taken.
With proper preparation and information we encourage and feel confident that travel to and within Mexico continues to be safe. We are confident that those who honor us with the opportunity to serve them will enjoy a secure and memorable travel experience. There is never a guaranty of complete safety when traveling anywhere, even within the US and Europe, yet by working with a trusted and professional destination specialist, like Journey Mexico, travelers minimize risk by relying on experts to keep them in the right places. Living in the destination and ensuring the safe and enjoyable experiences of guests on a daily basis daily, we understand the environment and monitor the situation constantly. Our primary goal is client, staff, and partner safety and we refuse to operate in any area of the country where we do not feel confident that we can ensure the safety and security of all involved. Furthermore, we are unwilling to operate in environments where we perceive elevated risk and are committed to vigilantly monitoring the local situations throughout the Mexican Republic; we have well developed contingency and risk management plans in place in the event that they should be needed.
For those looking to travel to Mexico, we advise only working with reputable, experienced travel professionals with close relationships in the specific destinations they will visit to ensure the best and safest travel experience possible.
