STATISTICS: Mexico is Safer than the United States

MEXICO IS SAFER THAN THE UNITED STATES
International Crime Stats statistics show the United States as the country with the most crimes globally. According to Nationmaster, an International Statistics source the US is #1 in the world for crime and Mexico is #12.

Here are the latest statistics from Nationmaster (per capita refers to amount of victims per 1000 people):

Total Crimes:
1. United States - 23,677,800
2. Germany - 6,264,723
3. United Kingdom - 5,170,831
4. France - 3,771,849
5. South Africa - 3,422,743

Here is the complete list:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_tot_cri-crime-total-crimes

Recent Survey Results Support that Mexico is a Safe Tourist Destination

Recent Survey Results Support that Mexico is a Safe Tourist Destination
Results are contrary to media and consumers' misconceptions

MILWAUKEE, March 18, 2009 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The recently updated Mexico Travel Alert has been broadly misinterpreted by media and consumers. The alert does not discourage U.S. citizens from traveling to Mexico, but instead encourages travelers to take common sense precautions to ensure that travel to Mexico is safe and enjoyable. To get a pulse on how vacationers who recently returned from Mexico felt about their safety and experience, The Mark Travel Corporation (parent company to Funjet Vacations) initiated and aggregated a consumer survey.

From March 6 - 15, 2009, more than 900 responses were received from travelers who took a vacation to Mexico between October 2008 and March 2009. The results were overwhelmingly positive with 97% of those surveyed indicating they would return to Mexico for another vacation and 90% of all respondents agreeing to the statement "I felt safe and secure." Of the respondents who agreed to feeling safe and secure, 92% traveled in 2009 and 88% traveled in 2008, indicating that a growing number of travelers felt safe and secure in Mexico in 2009.
There were some travelers, only 9%, who indicated they felt unsafe at some time during their vacation in Mexico and less than 1% of respondents felt unsafe while on the resort property. The vast majority of reasons for feeling unsafe reflected isolated concerns that were not related to personal or physical safety.
The majority of respondents vacationed in Cancun/Riviera Maya, the most popular leisure destination in Mexico, which is more than 1,300 miles from the nearest U.S./Mexico border town referred to in the updated Mexico Travel Alert. Other respondents also vacationed in major tourist destinations including Puerto Vallarta, Cozumel, Los Cabos, Ixtapa, Acapulco and Mazatlan. These destinations are a minimum of 375 miles (the distance from Mazatlan to Chihuahua) from any U.S./Mexico border town. To view a map of Mexico that includes tourist destinations, border towns and mileage, visit Mexico-Update.com, a Web site recently launched by the Mexico Tourism Board to address travelers' questions about travel and safety in Mexico.

"The survey respondents confirmed Funjet's position that Mexico continues to be an amazing, safe and fun vacation destination. The results should give other travelers confidence to plan a Mexico vacation," stated Mike Going, President of Funjet Vacations. "We encourage consumers to get the facts about the Mexico Travel Alert from their travel agent or Funjet.com/pressroom. The concentration of drug cartel violence that caused the U.S. Department of State to update the alert is hundreds, and in some cases thousands, of miles away from Cancun, Riviera Maya, Puerto Vallarta and other main tourist areas."

There was no incentive or giveaway associated with the survey and travel agents were encouraged to send it to any of their clients who recently returned from Mexico and traveled with Funjet Vacations or another tour operator.

For more information on the Mexico Travel Alert consumers should contact a local travel agent, visit Funjet.com/pressroom or call 1-888-558-6654. To book a Funjet vacation to Mexico, travelers should contact their local travel agent or Funjet.com.

Posted: Friday, March 20, 2009 3:03 PM by Kanoa Biondolillo www.baja123.com

Mexican tourism official: Travel alerts a ploy to keep dollars in U.S.

BY GEOVANA RUANO FONSECA, BAJO EL SOL

SAN LUIS RIO COLORADO, Son. — The two travel alerts sent out by the U.S. State Department warning travelers about an increase in crime in border cities in Baja California and Sonora are really negative advertising to prevent American citizens from crossing to Mexico and spending their dollars there, said David Rojas Rojas, general director of the Mexicali COTUCO, the Comite de Turismo y Convenciones, the Convention and Visitor Bureau, known by its acronym in Spanish COTUCO.

Rojas, who promotes tourism in Los Algodones, Mexicali and San Felipe, said it was obvious that the economic crisis in the U.S. is the reasoning behind curtailing American tourism in order to prevent dollars being spent in Mexico.

“We are not minimizing the violence that exists in our country but we are doing well,” Rojas said pointing out that there is violence in the U.S. as well.

“We know that in Las Vegas there were 4,000 crimes committed and that in San Diego several people have been kidnapped and nothing is said and no one is alerted,” he said.

About spring breakers visiting San Felipe, Rojas said that hotels in the area El Cortez and San Felipe Marina already have a high number of rooms booked.

Just last week, San Felipe and Ensenada were filled with tourists participating in Fat Tuesday carnivals.

On a final note, Rojas said local, state and federal agencies on safety worked cooperatively to provide a safe 2009 Caribbean Series, an international baseball tournament that takes place in Mexicali as well as past international expos such as Agrobaja, a farming and fishing exhibition, which will be March 12-14.

“There will always be campaigning, but we want to make it clear that Mexicali is aware of the travel advisories and we take care of our visitors to the point of providing additional policing especially in tourist areas and events,” Rojas said.