This undated photo shows part of Xcaret, near Cancun on the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico known as the

This undated photo shows part of Xcaret, near Cancun on the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico known as the Riviera Maya. Despite the ongoing drug war, travel companies seem to be increasingly optimistic about Mexico. Starting in May, Southwest/AirTran will offer daily service from San Antonio, Texas, visit paris stay at disney hotel rer to Cancun. By Rob Lovitt, msnbc.com contributor
That would represent visit paris stay at disney hotel rer a significant change from 2011, in which arrivals from the U.S. are estimated to have fallen 3 percent from the 11.9 million travelers who flew in from U.S. cities or arrived via U.S.-based cruise ships in 2010.
Nevertheless, the U.S. State Department still advises Americans to exercise caution when traveling to Mexico. On Wednesday, visit paris stay at disney hotel rer the department released its latest travel warning , updating one that had been in effect since April 2011. As with the earlier warning, it reiterated that millions of Americans safely visit the country every year and that most of the drug-related violence occurs near the Mexico-U.S. border and along drug-trafficking routes, rather than in resort towns and other tourist destinations.
visit paris stay at disney hotel rer Together, such developments provide something of a counterpoint to the toll Mexico s ongoing drug war has taken on both the country s residents and the tourism industry. The former have borne the brunt of the violence the conflict has claimed more than 47,500 lives since 2006, said Pablo Weisz, regional security manager for the Americas at International SOS but the resulting headlines visit paris stay at disney hotel rer have also put a chill on the country s tourism trade.
The problem, at least in part, said Weisz, is one of perception. The security situation has not necessarily changed, he told msnbc.com. It s more a case that the perception among travelers has become more aligned with the reality that Mexico is a huge country and a complex security environment.
That said, Mazatlan may still present a special case that warrants extra caution, says Marie Metz, Latin American security analyst visit paris stay at disney hotel rer for iJET International Inc. It s in Sinaloa, which is among the states with the highest homicide rates, she said. I wouldn t peg it as an A-OK place to go; you could go to Cabo or Puerto Vallarta just as easily.
While dismayed by the incident, Lopez Negrete maintains that it was the type of crime that could happen in any city in the U.S., Canada or Europe. It was an isolated incident and not cartel-related, he said. The guy was immediately apprehended and is already facing the law.
In the meantime, security experts and tourism officials agree that, isolated incidents and petty crime aside, visit paris stay at disney hotel rer the vast majority of visitors to Mexico have little to fear when traveling to resort communities, colonial cities visit paris stay at disney hotel rer and the nation s capital. As that message gets out, the hope is that Americans will once again put the country on their travel itineraries.
In fact, it may already be happening, suggests travel agent Karin O Keefe, owner of Fun n Sun Travel in Springfield, Mass. There s been major resistance in recent years, visit paris stay at disney hotel rer she said. Between the drug violence and the swine flu epidemic, nobody wanted to go to Mexico.
Recently, though, she s seen a change, citing a client visit paris stay at disney hotel rer who had just returned visit paris stay at disney hotel rer from a trip to Tulum on the Yucatan peninsula. They d never been to Mexico, said O Keefe, and they were intimidated by people who said, Don t go, it s dangerous.
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