Mexico: Mexican Tourism Officials reported 22.7 million foreigners visited in 2011

Despite recent preoccupations regarding drug violence and the safety of travel to the county, Mexican tourism officials report that a record number of foreign visitors came to the country in 2011. In total, 22.7 million individuals arrived in Mexico by air last year, the highest number since Mexico began keeping track of the number of tourists coming to the country in 1980. Although the number of U.S. travelers visiting Mexico continues to drop, with a 3 percent decline between 2010 and 2011, tourists from other countries, most notably Brazil, Russia, Peru and China made up for this shortfall. News of Mexico’s recent tourist influx comes just weeks after the U.S. State Department released an updated travel warning, urging U.S.-American tourists to avoid travel to a series of sites in the country, including various resort destinations, such as Sonora’s Puerto Peñasco or Rocky Point, a city frequented by travelers from Tucson and Southern Arizona. With news that, despite such warnings, travelers continue to flock to Mexican tourist hotspots, it raises the question: is it truly unsafe to vacation in Mexico? Read article