Mexico travel fears for Canadians grossly overblown

Alex Migdal
News Editor

Feb 01, 2012

It’s the middle of the night. You enter a hotel elevator to find a stranger standing there. You smile, shifting a glance at the elevator numbers illuminating sequentially. The elevator finally chimes, and the doors slide open on your floor. Just before you step out, a hand blocks your path. Before you have time to react, a fist slams into your face, over and over again, until your vision is reduced to darkness from your swollen eyes. You’re left for dead. 

It’s a nightmare that would make anyone wake up in a fit of horror. But it became a reality for 37-year-old Calgarian Sheila Nabb, who was found by a hotel staff member in Mexico in the early morning hours of Jan. 21 lying in a pool of blood, unconscious and naked.

Senseless cases like this that have thrust Mexico into the headlines for all the wrong reasons. A story like Nabb’s is shocking and disturbing — in essence, perfect fodder for the media to latch on to. However, by incessantly highlighting random acts of brutality, the media’s sensationalization of tourists affected by Mexican crime reveals a gap between perception and reality.

Mexico is a hugely popular tourist destination for Canadians. According to the Mexican Secretary of Tourism, 1.6 million Canadians travelled south to Mexico in 2011. Out of those many visitors, six Canadians were murdered in 2011, while 50 were victims of assault.

One of those murder victims was 39-year-old Ximena Osegueda, a UBC doctoral student who, along with her boyfriend, was recently stabbed and set on fire before being buried on a beach. That case also raised concerns about students travelling or studying in Mexico.

Recognizing crime in Mexico is undoubtedly important, particularly in regions along the American border that are plagued by long-standing conflicts fuelled by drug wars. But cases like Nabb’s beating are highlighted with fervour by the media for an illogical poor reason — they’re extraordinary, isolated incidents that travelers will rarely experience.

Regardless, the Department of Foreign Affairs ominously warns Canadians they should use a high degree of caution when traveling to Mexico, due to its “deteriorating security situation in many parts of the country.”

But I would also advise Canadians to take caution when travelling in Edmonton’s inner city, famous in recent years for the high homicide rate. A sideways glance at the wrong person may just lead to some uncomfortable remarks — or worse, an assault.

In other words, urging Canadians to exercise caution when travelling to Mexico is a moot point, because any apt traveler knows they should exercise caution wherever they go. Avoid crime-ridden areas, travel with another person at all times, listen to your gut instinct, don’t buy drugs — tidbits that typically keep most people out of harm’s way.

In addition, the media’s frenzy erroneously simplifies Mexico’s crime rate as representative of the entire country, which is unfair and detrimental to its tourist-driven economy. Just like Edmonton, crime is more pervasive in certain regions than others. Crime exists wherever you go, so it ultimately boils down to using common sense.

Besides, there are many places that are remarkably safe. Resorts in, for example, Puerto Vallerta, are clean and secure. When I visited, my trip to the nearby village was greeted by friendly locals. Puerto Vallarta’s crime rate, like that of many tourist destinations, is low. Exactly zero Canadians and U.S. citizens were murdered in Puerto Vallarta in 2010. Might we not caution Mexicans to avoid Edmonton, which recorded nearly 50 murders last year?

Although Nabb’s case was horrific and undeserved, certain precautions on her part could have allowed her to avoid the incident altogether. Mazatlan, the city in which Nabb and her husband were travelling, is known to be a rougher region of the country, and travelling there is generally discouraged. Additionally, Nabb was walking in the resort alone in the middle of the night, without even informing her sleeping husband of her whereabouts before leaving the room.

Obviously, the blame shouldn’t be laid on Nabb for suffering a brutal beating. But what we can learn from her case is that taking a few precautions like those — the same precautions we’d take anywhere — can save us a lot of trouble in the long run.

Nabb’s story is tragic, as is Osegueda’s, but it’s unfair to say that these incidents are indicative of a widespread crime problem in all of Mexico. Taking a rational approach and actually looking at the hard facts clearly reveals that crime is, in fact, not as concerning of an issue as the Canadian media claims. If we obsess over isolated incidents rather than looking at the bigger picture, the victims merely become ourselves.

So, the decision is yours — enjoy Mexico’s balmy weather and lovely beaches, or waste your time worrying about what if.

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