Is it secure to journey to Mexico? Travel brokers weigh in

ORLANDO, Fla. — Pictures and movies out of Mexico of vehicles burning and smoke throughout will be startling. It stemmed from the Mexican Army’s killing of a cartel chief within the Mexican state of Jalisco, proper close to a very fashionable vacationer spot, Puerto Vallarta.

The huge query is: Is it secure to journey to Mexico? The quick reply is that it’s a private determination. Experts suggest taking steps to remain secure on any deliberate journeys and, most significantly, to do analysis about particular areas, as a result of Mexico is an enormous nation with 31 states.

U.S. State Department-issued travel advisories include:

• Six Mexican states beneath a don’t journey
• Seven states beneath rethink journey
• Many extra listed as train elevated warning

“No matter where you go or what you’re planning to do, research your destination ahead of time,” mentioned Dave Benson, a former federal agent and risk evaluation skilled.

Benson mentioned it’s essential that vacationers register with the U.S. State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, referred to as STEP.

“They will send you information on what the latest restrictions are. That’s really important because that can sometimes change weekly or even daily sometimes,” Benson mentioned.

Video obtained from journey advisor Dan Bodwin reveals smoke rising round buildings in Puerto Vallarta on Sunday.

“We are doing fine, we are doing okay, it was a bit scary, unnerving, not really knowing what was happening,” mentioned Bodwin, who’s the vice chairman of Quality Travel Solutions.

Bodwin has lived there in Puerto Vallarta for 10 years and has by no means seen something like this earlier than. But after a couple of days, the shops, faculties and the airport had been open once more.

“It is back to status quo,” Bodwin mentioned.

Many on trip there keep at all-inclusive resorts, the place vacationers are much less prone to have an issue. But as soon as off resort property, it’s suggested to go along with a good group or group and solely take reliable transportation.

“One thing I do when I contact a tour provider, I try to have them send a photo to my guests so the guests know who to look for when they get off the plane instead of just looking for that little sign. They can look for the person that they know,” mentioned Bryan Villella, the proprietor of Dream Vacations of Windermere.

Villella has shoppers on cruises in Mexico proper now and will probably be occurring a visit there himself quickly.

“I am going to be looking around a little more cautious than the before, nonetheless, Mexico is also very dependent on tourism, so they are going to provide extra assets to the area,” Villella mentioned.

Villella says he’s nonetheless reserving shoppers’ journeys to Mexico, however different journey brokers Spectrum News spoke with in Central Florida say, personally, they don’t really feel snug reserving journeys to sure components of the area till issues settle down just a little extra.