Calderon: drug war in Mexico has not hurt tourism
LAS VEGAS – Mexican President Felipe Calderon said Thursday that drug violence in Mexico is not the international tourism and the country plans to grow the industry hurt.
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Calderon told a group of travel industry executives in Las Vegas that international tourism is up 6 percent last year in Mexico, with 10 percent more U.S. tourists visiting the country.
With 23 million international visitors last year and 6 million on cruise ships, Calderon said there were "almost zero" incidents of tourists are crime related to drug cartels.
Violence is a consistent problem in Mexico, with frequent reports of killings and kidnappings linked to drug the nation's war. Late Tuesday gunmen opened fire at an auto body shop in the Gulf Coast state of Tabasco, killing nine people. In the southern state of Guerrero, six people were slain earlier this week, including four policemen.
The U.S. State Department has warned Americans to stick to legitimate business and tourist areas, avoiding places where criminal activity could happen. The department said that although there is no evidence of criminals targeting Americans because of their citizenship, the number of Americans slain in Mexico increased from 35 in 2007 to 111 in 2010.
Texas students also warned earlier this year to move to Mexico for spring break, but Calderon said the tourists did not experience any problems.
"Let me tell you, I have thousands and thousands of spring breakers in Mexico looked fun," said Calderon. "And from my understanding, the only shots they got were tequila shots – many of them."
According to the World Travel & Tourism Council, international visitors spent $ 15 billion in Mexico in 2010 against 12.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2009. Domestic travel spending was up 78.9 billion U.S. dollars from 68.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2009, and the Council projects both figures back to 2011.
Calderon said that Mexico appears to be an attractive investment for foreign travel companies, with $ 4 billion investment in Mexico during the first quarter of this year.
"Mexico is a safe place to visit," said Calderon.
"Yes, we have problems … We are dealing with that, we are facing," he said. "But at the same time, we have everything."
Earlier this year, Governor Calderon promised to declare 2011 the year of tourism in Mexico, launching an international campaign to visit the country to push even higher in 2020.
Calderon said that now, Mexico is the 10th most visited country in the world by international travelers, and he wants to improve to fifth by the end of the decade.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material May not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
More Source:
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Submited at Friday, May 20th, 2011 at 10:00 am on News by dave
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