U.S. Travel Alert for Mexico Expires Today

The U.S. State Department’s Security Travel Alert for Mexico expired today. The alert, which was issued on Feb. 20, warned of increasingly violent conflicts related to drug cartels along the Mexico-U.S. border.

Travel alerts are issued to disseminate information about short-term conditions, generally within a particular country, that pose imminent risks to the security of U.S. citizens.

For long-term situations such as the conditions in Somalia or Iran, the State Department issues travel warnings.

Dramatic Decline. The travel alert for Mexico marked the beginning of a dramatic decline in tourism to the country.

Issued just before spring break season, it prompted several universities to warn students against going to popular destinations such as Cancun or Puerto Vallarta–even though these areas were (and still are) almost entirely unaffected by the crisis.

Virus Outbreak. But one month later, the events surrounding the travel alert were eclipsed by the outbreak of the Swine Flu or H1N1 virus. By the end of April, the Centers for Disease Control warned against nonessential travel to Mexico. The CDC lifted its warning on May 15.

When I visited Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta in late June, it was obvious that the tourism industry was still reeling in what already is the off-season in most parts of Mexico.

Hopefully, the virus and the worst of the drug cartel violence has passed and Mexico can continue its recovery.

Photo by joseloya (Via Creative Commons)