Mexican resorts still 'safe' for travel

Travellers should use caution in area near U.S. border
Alysa Noel, Sun Media
3 March 2009
Article URL: http://sherwoodparknews.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1458737

This article is a news piece by Alysa Noel of the Edmonton (Alberta) Sun, printed here in the local section of the Sherwood Park News. The reporter appears to take a rather measured approach in presenting the situation in the Mexican border cities. Issues of violence are reported matter-of-factly by riding on a Department of Foreign Affairs travel alert that warns Canadians traveling to the border cities for a break to exhibit a high degree of caution. The report does not mask the fact that firefights may break out between Mexican Federales and cartel members in broad daylight.

The 'balance' here is provided by representatives from two travel agencies, who try to assure the readers that traveling to Mexico continues to be safe so long as tourists do not venture too far beyond the boundaries of their resorts. There is a strong emphasis on the themes of ethics and responsibility as the travel agents are quoted as saying that they take the safety of their clients very seriously, and would never make any deals that would endanger the travellers. Seemingly to add some depth, as well as a different perspective to the story, the article cites the position taken by the US where diplomatic staff and citizens have either been asked to avoid non-essential travel down south, or exercise great caution. The irony to this is that tourism numbers from Canada to Mexico in 2008 have actually increased, and there seemed to be a hint that the bark may be worse than the bite when this statistic is put against the casualty figures that the Mexican authorities have declared at the end of the article.

It is necessary to point out that because the Sherwood Park News is a local paper that serves this neighboring hamlet of Edmonton, Alberta (Canada), it may be fair to assume that the overall thrust of the article is angled towards protecting the interests of local travel agencies (or otherwise, not to cause too much hurt to them). It certainly helps that Canadian tourists may not have suffered any scarring from the ongoing violence, which is key in building the generally positive narrative taken in this account.