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For the millions of travelers around the world that visit Cancun each year, they leave the sun-kissed city with nothing but positive things to say. However, for a tiny minority of travelers, vacation trips to the world’s top tourism spot can sometimes end after being the unfortunate victims of crime.
Thankfully for travelers, the state of Quintana Roo – home to hotspots such as Cancun, Playa Del Carmen and Tulum – is doubling down in its efforts to combat crime and keep travelers safe when they visit the region in a bid to regain the confidence of travelers around the world.
Protections Ramped Up – Information For Travelers
As is the case with all large, popular cities, Cancun can sometimes attract the wrong sort of attention. While there are some crimes committed in the city that have often drawn the attention of global news outlets, the reality is that serious crimes towards visiting toursts are few and far between.
Unfortunately, however, that hasn’t stopped some states in the U.S. such as Texas, from warning its citizens against traveling to the city for Spring Break this year following the kidnapping of four Americans.
While generally considered a safe destination for travelers, recent findings have shown that incidents such as high-profile news stories have dented the confidence of tourists.
Despite only having a Level 2 Travel Advisory from the State Department, which tells visitors to exercise increased caution Quintana Roo, businesses have reported having several cancellations of their bookings by foreign travelers due to the negative news stories coming out of the region.
A level 2 travel advisory is a status shared by other destinations generally considered safe for travel, such as Denmark or Germany.
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Yet travelers can rest easy knowing that the state of Quintana Roo takes the threat of crime very seriously, and is hard at work ensuring the region is as safe as possible for both locals and tourists alike.
According to the Secretary of Tourism, Bernardo Cueto Riestra, the state is working on several security strategies already in a bid to prevent the number of travel restrictions placed on the state from rising. At present, there are no travel restrictions on Quintana Roo in the travel advisories issued by the U.S. State Department, and the Secretary is hoping to keep it that way when they are updated in the coming weeks.
Security and the protection of tourists is something that the government is constantly improving throughout the region. Just last week, it was revealed that the police in Cancun would be operating night-vision enabled drones in a bid to better monitor crime throughout the city, and there has also been a considerable increase in the number of security cameras in tourist-heavy places.
Tulum has also benefited from an increase in the number of security cameras, while it’s not uncommon for hotspots throughout the state to receive more police and navy manpower during the busier months.
Perhaps the most exciting revelation by Tourism Secretary Riestra was that the region has agreed to implement the United Nation’s World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) International Code for the Protection of Tourists (ICPT).
According to their website, the ICPT “provides a set of minimum international standards for the protection of tourists in emergency situations and consumer rights of tourists in the post COVID-19 scenario,” which hopes to ensure a “coordinated approach to the assistance of international tourists during emergency situations.”
The ICPT goes on to add:
“The ICPT aims at restoring consumers’ confidence and making the travel environment more attractive by creating a feeling of safety for tourists/travelers and improving the contractual relationships between providers and recipients of the various tourism services.”
The decision to agree to the ICPT seems to be a win-win for Quintana Roo; not only will travelers feel safer when visiting the region, but it will also go some way to restoring confidence in the state as a travel destination as it looks to break its record for travel arrivals for the second year running. With such positive steps towards creating a safer destination already taken, here’s hoping the state continues to have zero travel restrictions after the State Department’s next review.
The full text of the ICPT can be read here.
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Angel Moreno
Sunday 4th of June 2023
No existe mayor prioridad que La Seguridad. No importa si de vacaciones o en casa. A todo se puede arriesgar, menos la seguridad de uno y su Familia. Gracias a las Autoridades de Quintana Roo. Cuando iran a reaccionar en todo México y el Mundo entero.