Spring break tourism down in Mexico

www.visitmexico.com

Just a few years ago during spring break, there would be thousands of college students from the US packing the beach bars at Playas de Rosarito. The massive clubs featured all-night drinking, bikini contests and concerts.

The picture is quite different this year, and it can be hard to find even a single tourist on the streets of this seaside resort city with a population of 130,000, located just 20 miles to the south of San Diego, California.

“I was expecting a drop in business but not this bad,” said the owner of Papas & Beer, Rodrigo Ampudia. He has seen revenue fall by 90 per cent during this year’s spring break period. On a recent Saturday night, about 300 people were in his club, as compared with nearer 3,000 on a similar night last year. The drop off in business has meant cutting back his staff from 120 to around 40.

Across Mexico tourism has been hit hard this spring, but Rosarito has been affected not only by the recession, but also because of the warring drug cartels. The US Department of State has recently warned travelers of the increased incidence of violence in towns and cities along the border of Mexico and the US.

The downturn is particularly bad news for the country overall, as tourism is the third-largest source of foreign revenue for Mexico, after oil and remittances. Foreign visitor numbers rose last year by six per cent, however, to 23 million, helping the country offset lower oil prices.

Thanks to www.usatoday.com for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

www.visitmexico.com