Drug War affecting Tourism in Mexico: Case of Tijuana and Acapulco
Author: Johanna Tiainen
1 Commentries
Abstract: How does Mexico’s on-going drug war affect tourism? This paper discusses the main impacts insecurity has had on tourism in the country and concentrates mainly on the cities of Acapulco and Tijuana where drug cartels and organised crime threaten the future of tourism.
Key words: Drug war, Mexico, insecurity, cartels, violence, crime, Acapulco, Tijuana
Tourism is an important industry for Mexico and its economy. According to UNWTO Tourism Highlights (2013), the country received over 23 million tourists in 2012 and the tourism receipts were over 12 million dollars in 2012. However, Levin (2012) notes, that the Mexican government had stated in 2010 that the instability is cutting 1.2% of Mexico’s gross domestic product every year. This leads us to discussion about insecurity and safety issues in the country and how they affect tourism.
Mexico has already been struggling with drug trafficking and cartels for a long time. According to the Mexico Tourism Report (2014:24), since the “launch of the military-led security crackdown in 2006†until December 2012, when Enrique Peña Nieto was elected as the president, the number of murders was 100,000. The majority of the deaths was drug-related and actions of organised crime. One of the main reasons why it has been so difficult to control the drug cartels is the problem of corruption. According to the Mexico Tourism Report (2014), the Mexican government disbanded an entire municipal police force in Veracruz, which included over 900 officers, as they had been involved with drug cartels. There are several other incidents where police have been involved illegally with drug cartels. However, the problem is that it is easy for police officers to get away with it. Morris (2012) notes, that even though there were over 5,000 deaths related to drugs and organised crime in Chihuahua from 2009 to 2010, only 212 people were found guilty. This shows how corruption often stays unpunished.
The cities where the drug war has affected the most are, for example, Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Tamaulipas, Mazatlán and especially, Acapulco and Tijuana. According to Maher and Carruthers (2013), Tijuana became popular already in the 20th century when it transformed into an entertainment zone called “pre-Vegas†that attracted Hollywood celebrities to its resorts and casinos. The city managed to attract so much migration, that the population tripled from 1980 to the beginning of the 21st century. The city has been popular especially among Americans, as it is situated close to the U.S. borderline. Tijuana flourished until drug trafficking brought instability and insecurity into the city. Particularly between 2007 and 2009 the city was extremely violent (Mexico Security Memo, 2011). The city faced daily killings and shootings and, for example, during the fall 2008 there were about 200 deaths related to organised crime a month (Goodyear, 2012). Pan et al. (2012) note, that due to this, many businesses, such as restaurants have moved to the United States from Tijuana. Business in general has fallen off enormously. Walker (2008) states that people who are looking for a calm holiday destination are afraid of travelling to the city. He also states that there are new, more strict rules for crossing the border and Americans cannot just walk across it anymore. This gets the Americans to stay in their own country rather than travelling to Tijuana for a quick weekend break, like they used to do.
Acapulco, however, was one of the first cities Mexico started to promote as a tourist destination shortly after World War 2 (Cothran and Cothran, 1998). It has been one of the principal destinations in Mexico, before the potential of Cancun and Riviera Maya was noticed. Nowadays, it is a city invaded by many drug wars and over 1000 deaths related to organised crime took place in 2012 (Kandell, 2013). The state of Guerrero, of which Acapulco is the capital, is Mexico’s most dangerous state with a 44% increase in homicides in 2011 (Levin, 2012). How have the drug cartels and insecurity affected tourism in Acapulco then? Well, before 2010 approximately 140 cruise trips a year, each with an average of 1,800 passengers, arrived to the port of Acapulco, whereas in 2013 only 13 cruises with about 600 passengers were expected. Jorge Placido, a Mexican real estate agent states that people have been looking for calm and secure vacation homes from Acapulco, but now the demand has fallen, for example Sare Holding’s, Mexico’s fifth biggest publicly traded builder’s home sales fell down 54 per cent in 2011 (Levin, 2012).
Mexico and the United States have had various initiatives, such as the La Paz Agreement in 1983 and a project called Border 2012 with the aim of getting the border area safer (Mexico Country Report, 2013). Bailey and Godson (2000) note, that it would be really important for Mexico to keep cooperating with the United States so that the drug trafficking gets disbanded. Only the future can show us how Mexico is able to restrain drug trafficking and keep attracting tourists.
Bailey J. J. & Godson R. (2000) Organized Crime & Democratic Governability: Mexico and the U.S.-Mexican Borderlands. [e-book] Available at: http://www.google.fi/books?hl=fi&lr=&id=IQSS8siWycsC&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=tijuana+tourism+organized+crime+insecurity&ots=Knx1gen42t&sig=XfE5C-WPlgRNo6wC-EwBjkIsftU&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false [Accessed 15 April 2014].
Maher K. H. & Carruthers D. (2013). Urban Image Work: Official and Grassroots Responses to Crisis in Tijuana. [e-journal] 50(2): 244-268 Available at: http://uar.sagepub.com.proxy.library.lincoln.ac.uk/content/50/2/244.full.pdf+html [Accessed 15 April 2014].
Mexico Tourism Report 1Q (2014). 1: 1-52 [online] Available at: http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.library.lincoln.ac.uk/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=c242bf30-8c65-408c-9155-ca8deb8c2a42%40sessionmgr115&vid=2&hid=127 [Accessed 15 March 2014].
Key words: Drug war, Mexico, insecurity, cartels, violence, crime, Acapulco, Tijuana
Tourism is an important industry for Mexico and its economy. According to UNWTO Tourism Highlights (2013), the country received over 23 million tourists in 2012 and the tourism receipts were over 12 million dollars in 2012. However, Levin (2012) notes, that the Mexican government had stated in 2010 that the instability is cutting 1.2% of Mexico’s gross domestic product every year. This leads us to discussion about insecurity and safety issues in the country and how they affect tourism.
Mexico has already been struggling with drug trafficking and cartels for a long time. According to the Mexico Tourism Report (2014:24), since the “launch of the military-led security crackdown in 2006†until December 2012, when Enrique Peña Nieto was elected as the president, the number of murders was 100,000. The majority of the deaths was drug-related and actions of organised crime. One of the main reasons why it has been so difficult to control the drug cartels is the problem of corruption. According to the Mexico Tourism Report (2014), the Mexican government disbanded an entire municipal police force in Veracruz, which included over 900 officers, as they had been involved with drug cartels. There are several other incidents where police have been involved illegally with drug cartels. However, the problem is that it is easy for police officers to get away with it. Morris (2012) notes, that even though there were over 5,000 deaths related to drugs and organised crime in Chihuahua from 2009 to 2010, only 212 people were found guilty. This shows how corruption often stays unpunished.
The cities where the drug war has affected the most are, for example, Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Tamaulipas, Mazatlán and especially, Acapulco and Tijuana. According to Maher and Carruthers (2013), Tijuana became popular already in the 20th century when it transformed into an entertainment zone called “pre-Vegas†that attracted Hollywood celebrities to its resorts and casinos. The city managed to attract so much migration, that the population tripled from 1980 to the beginning of the 21st century. The city has been popular especially among Americans, as it is situated close to the U.S. borderline. Tijuana flourished until drug trafficking brought instability and insecurity into the city. Particularly between 2007 and 2009 the city was extremely violent (Mexico Security Memo, 2011). The city faced daily killings and shootings and, for example, during the fall 2008 there were about 200 deaths related to organised crime a month (Goodyear, 2012). Pan et al. (2012) note, that due to this, many businesses, such as restaurants have moved to the United States from Tijuana. Business in general has fallen off enormously. Walker (2008) states that people who are looking for a calm holiday destination are afraid of travelling to the city. He also states that there are new, more strict rules for crossing the border and Americans cannot just walk across it anymore. This gets the Americans to stay in their own country rather than travelling to Tijuana for a quick weekend break, like they used to do.
Acapulco, however, was one of the first cities Mexico started to promote as a tourist destination shortly after World War 2 (Cothran and Cothran, 1998). It has been one of the principal destinations in Mexico, before the potential of Cancun and Riviera Maya was noticed. Nowadays, it is a city invaded by many drug wars and over 1000 deaths related to organised crime took place in 2012 (Kandell, 2013). The state of Guerrero, of which Acapulco is the capital, is Mexico’s most dangerous state with a 44% increase in homicides in 2011 (Levin, 2012). How have the drug cartels and insecurity affected tourism in Acapulco then? Well, before 2010 approximately 140 cruise trips a year, each with an average of 1,800 passengers, arrived to the port of Acapulco, whereas in 2013 only 13 cruises with about 600 passengers were expected. Jorge Placido, a Mexican real estate agent states that people have been looking for calm and secure vacation homes from Acapulco, but now the demand has fallen, for example Sare Holding’s, Mexico’s fifth biggest publicly traded builder’s home sales fell down 54 per cent in 2011 (Levin, 2012).
Mexico and the United States have had various initiatives, such as the La Paz Agreement in 1983 and a project called Border 2012 with the aim of getting the border area safer (Mexico Country Report, 2013). Bailey and Godson (2000) note, that it would be really important for Mexico to keep cooperating with the United States so that the drug trafficking gets disbanded. Only the future can show us how Mexico is able to restrain drug trafficking and keep attracting tourists.
Bailey J. J. & Godson R. (2000) Organized Crime & Democratic Governability: Mexico and the U.S.-Mexican Borderlands. [e-book] Available at: http://www.google.fi/books?hl=fi&lr=&id=IQSS8siWycsC&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=tijuana+tourism+organized+crime+insecurity&ots=Knx1gen42t&sig=XfE5C-WPlgRNo6wC-EwBjkIsftU&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false [Accessed 15 April 2014].
Maher K. H. & Carruthers D. (2013). Urban Image Work: Official and Grassroots Responses to Crisis in Tijuana. [e-journal] 50(2): 244-268 Available at: http://uar.sagepub.com.proxy.library.lincoln.ac.uk/content/50/2/244.full.pdf+html [Accessed 15 April 2014].
Mexico Tourism Report 1Q (2014). 1: 1-52 [online] Available at: http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.library.lincoln.ac.uk/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=c242bf30-8c65-408c-9155-ca8deb8c2a42%40sessionmgr115&vid=2&hid=127 [Accessed 15 March 2014].