Rachel Wimberly

Mexico’s Hard-knock Life

I used to travel to Mexico’s Baja Peninsula a few times a year. Surf trips with friends, nights out in Rosarito Beach, cruising up and down the coast – I always enjoyed it, until the last trip a few years ago.

My husband had never been to Mexico before, so I decided to surprise him with a trip during the Christmas holidays. There were rumors at the time of violence brewing between drug gangs and authorities, but I had never felt unsafe in Rosarito. Just in case, I booked a hotel next to the police station.

From the moment we got there, I felt uneasy and, as my husband describes it, he was on “high alert.” The city had definitely changed, going from an easy, carefree place to somewhere it didn’t feel safe to walk at night.

A week after we got home, the chief of police was ambushed and gunned down in an alley near our hotel.

A few years later, the violence has spiraled out of control, and people I’ve known who have traveled to Mexico City to shoot films or open restaurants are accompanied at all times by armed escorts and big insurance policies in case they are kidnapped.

The nightly news has focused on the escalating violence week after week to the point where you wonder how many people it might scare off from ever crossing the border.

And now, with the outbreak of the swine flu starting in Mexico and, so far, killing more than 100 people there and sickening a thousand-plus others, even more people likely will avoid going there at all costs.

The question is: How will all of this impact Mexico’s burgeoning meetings and tradeshow industry?

I have gone to several association events recently, including the Intl. Assn. of Exhibitions & Events’ Expo! Expo! in Miami Beach last December, at which the Mexico Tourism Board hosted lavish parties to show off what they had to offer.

They seemed to be advertising everywhere and sponsoring as much as they could. One hopes, with the current dual crisis going on, all of the hard work to get people interested in taking their events to Mexico isn’t all for naught.

Posted by Rachel Wimberly on April 29, 2009 | Comments (2)