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"The armed conflict between the cartels and Mexico’s military, which has dragged on for 12 years, now ranks as the deadliest war in the world apart from Syria."

"The armed conflict between the cartels and Mexico’s military, which has dragged on for 12 years, now ranks as the deadliest war in the world apart from Syria." Do people still voluntarily go on holiday in Mexico?

allannienhuis 8y ago
Pretty sure the vast majority of the gang/cartel related violence doesn't take place in the tourist areas, and that the few reports we hear about where a tourist has been involved in some violence are a tiny percentage of the overall problem. I've never had the feeling that tourists in the main tourist areas in Mexico were any less safe than at home. Certainly I'd be more afraid of my safety in many parts of most major US cities.
- cpncrunch 8y ago
  https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/mexico/safety-and-security https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/mexico/safety-and-s... "Crime and violence are serious problems in Mexico and the security situation can pose a risk for foreigners" "There have been a number of violent car-jackings and robberies along the Pacific Highway and you should be careful when travelling on this route. " https://globalnews.ca/news/4171527/cancun-mexico-violence-travel-global-affairs/ https://globalnews.ca/news/4171527/cancun-mexico-violence-tr... "Canadians travel to Mexico more than any other country except the United States. But many visitors may be unaware of the growing violence in a main city that was once hailed as one of the country’s safest: Cancun. This week, five people were found dead near the public prosecutor’s office in the city on the Yucatán Peninsula, bringing the death toll by violence in the beach city to more than 100 since the beginning of the year." Doesn't really sound like the kind of place I'll consider visiting any time soon. I like living in one of the safest places in the world, and I have no interest in going somewhere like this.
poisonarena 8y ago
40 million tourists in 2017 10 million Q1 2018.. Just a quick google search..
empath75 8y ago
I’ve been to every country in Central America from Mexico to panama. I was in areas that had active gang wars between rival cartels, where gangs were driving around in technicals and that had razor wire up on the walls of the hotel I stayed at. I never once felt like I was in danger, and I was going into way risky areas — comparatively speaking the resort areas are Disney land. There’s no money and a lot of risk in fucking around with tourists. In fact in one town i went to in Guatemala was heavily implied that the locals murdered a guy that robbed a tourist so they wouldn’t risk the tourist dollars coming into town.
majos 8y ago
If nothing else, the cartels are highly incentivized to not harm tourists, as (copious) tourism money also flows into their pockets.
dariusm5 8y ago
I lived in Mexico City for a couple of years and visited around 20 cities. Not only did I never feel uncomfortable or scared, I discovered many beautiful places I could see myself retiring in. When your expectations are very low about a place, you are swept off your feet when you see the amazing reality. After my travels in Mexico and Latin America, I feel like statistics without proper context and sensationalist news do a big disservice to people. It's a lot more exciting and interesting to focus on pockets of areas where gang-on-gang violence is occurring. People would rather click on article to read about drug related news rather than a piece discussing the many great festivals coming up in Mexico City and around the country. However, the reality is that life in the majority of the country is just like anywhere you'd imagine, sometimes fun, sometimes normal, and sometimes boring. The only danger being from purposefully looking for trouble or being very unlucky by being at the wrong place at the wrong time. To put it in another way, someone can also ask why would anyone want to visit the US after all the news about gun violence? Why would anyone want to visit the US after reading about the crime in Detroit, Memphis, South Chicago, Baltimore, etc. I've been to the US (including Detroit and Chicago) enough to know what it's really like and now understand the context better when reading news articles about crime and violence there.

allannienhuis 8y ago

Pretty sure the vast majority of the gang/cartel related violence doesn't take place in the tourist areas, and that the few reports we hear about where a tourist has been involved in some violence are a tiny percentage of the overall problem. I've never had the feeling that tourists in the main tourist areas in Mexico were any less safe than at home. Certainly I'd be more afraid of my safety in many parts of most major US cities.

cpncrunch 8y ago
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/mexico/safety-and-security https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/mexico/safety-and-s... "Crime and violence are serious problems in Mexico and the security situation can pose a risk for foreigners" "There have been a number of violent car-jackings and robberies along the Pacific Highway and you should be careful when travelling on this route. " https://globalnews.ca/news/4171527/cancun-mexico-violence-travel-global-affairs/ https://globalnews.ca/news/4171527/cancun-mexico-violence-tr... "Canadians travel to Mexico more than any other country except the United States. But many visitors may be unaware of the growing violence in a main city that was once hailed as one of the country’s safest: Cancun. This week, five people were found dead near the public prosecutor’s office in the city on the Yucatán Peninsula, bringing the death toll by violence in the beach city to more than 100 since the beginning of the year." Doesn't really sound like the kind of place I'll consider visiting any time soon. I like living in one of the safest places in the world, and I have no interest in going somewhere like this.

poisonarena 8y ago

40 million tourists in 2017 10 million Q1 2018.. Just a quick google search..

empath75 8y ago

I’ve been to every country in Central America from Mexico to panama. I was in areas that had active gang wars between rival cartels, where gangs were driving around in technicals and that had razor wire up on the walls of the hotel I stayed at. I never once felt like I was in danger, and I was going into way risky areas — comparatively speaking the resort areas are Disney land. There’s no money and a lot of risk in fucking around with tourists. In fact in one town i went to in Guatemala was heavily implied that the locals murdered a guy that robbed a tourist so they wouldn’t risk the tourist dollars coming into town.

majos 8y ago

If nothing else, the cartels are highly incentivized to not harm tourists, as (copious) tourism money also flows into their pockets.

dariusm5 8y ago

I lived in Mexico City for a couple of years and visited around 20 cities. Not only did I never feel uncomfortable or scared, I discovered many beautiful places I could see myself retiring in. When your expectations are very low about a place, you are swept off your feet when you see the amazing reality. After my travels in Mexico and Latin America, I feel like statistics without proper context and sensationalist news do a big disservice to people. It's a lot more exciting and interesting to focus on pockets of areas where gang-on-gang violence is occurring. People would rather click on article to read about drug related news rather than a piece discussing the many great festivals coming up in Mexico City and around the country. However, the reality is that life in the majority of the country is just like anywhere you'd imagine, sometimes fun, sometimes normal, and sometimes boring. The only danger being from purposefully looking for trouble or being very unlucky by being at the wrong place at the wrong time. To put it in another way, someone can also ask why would anyone want to visit the US after all the news about gun violence? Why would anyone want to visit the US after reading about the crime in Detroit, Memphis, South Chicago, Baltimore, etc. I've been to the US (including Detroit and Chicago) enough to know what it's really like and now understand the context better when reading news articles about crime and violence there.