More North Texans Vacationing in Mexico

DALLAS - An uptick in Mexican travel is welcome news for the travel industry in North Texas, where the majority of business is generated by vacationers heading across the border.

A drug war plaguing parts of Mexico and a swine flu scare last year had been a deadly combination for the tourism business in that country, as well as in North Texas.

Mexican travel destinations are hugely important to local travel agencies, often accounting for as much as 75 percent of their business. And when people stopped going to Mexico, a number of local businesses closed.

"Without the business we do to resorts down there -- to Cancun, Riviera Maya, Cozumel -- pretty hard to survive," said Rob Nelson of Travel Leaders McKinney.

Mexico's secretary of tourism was in Dallas last week touting June's 35 percent increase in foreign travelers, and the relative safety of destinations like the so-called Mayan Riviera.

"They have one of the best scores in the world as far as safety," Secretary Gloria R. Gurevara Manzo said.

In fact, Yucatan's murder rate of 2 per 100,000 is comparable to the US states of Wyoming and Montana.

"Last year we had 21 million visitors from other countries and we didn't have one single incident," Gurevara Manzo said. "Most of the problems are in the border towns."

And that's a fact one McKinney travel agent tackles head on by posting on her website facts about Texas' southern neighbor.

"My sales have almost doubled since last year, specifically to the Mayan Riveria," said Donna Alkarmi of Lone Star Travel. "I show them a map. I show them the distance between Cancun and Tijuana, where most of the crime is happening. That's like saying someone got shot in Los Angeles tonight, let's not go to Dallas tomorrow."

No one argues that border regions are dangerous -- many rank Mexico City as No. 1 in the world in kidnappings for ransom. But Mexico is working hard to assure travelers that vacation destinations are safe. And, increasingly, tourists are trusting the country.