ShareMexico travel warnings
The State Department urges Americans to take these precautions in Mexico:
Travel on main roads during daylight hours, particularly toll roads, which are generally more secure.
Stay in the well-known tourist areas.
Leave itineraries with friends or relatives not traveling with you.
Avoid traveling alone.
Make sure your cellphone will work in the areas you plan to visit.
Avoid large gatherings of people because violence can break out.
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FORT WORTH -- Students appear to be following warnings to avoid parts of Mexico during spring break.
Europe is emerging as a top destination. And some students at Texas Christian University said they plan to spend next week in Guatemala or on South Padre Island off the Texas coast."I probably won't think about Mexico," said TCU sophomore Bobby Katoli of Arlington, who plans to go to South Padre. He mentioned travel alerts as one of the reasons.The U.S. State Department issued a warning Feb. 22 urging Americans to take precautions when visiting Mexico, especially the country's northern cities. The Texas Department of Public Safety issued a similar warning on March 4."U.S. citizens traveling throughout Mexico should exercise caution in unfamiliar areas and be aware of their surroundings at all times," the U.S. State Department statement reads. "Bystanders have been injured or killed in violent attacks in cities across the country, demonstrating the heightened risk of violence in public places."The DPS statement says parents should not allow their children to visit border towns "because their safety cannot be guaranteed."STA Travel, an agency that specializes in student and youth travel, reports that in a recent survey of 600 customers, 34 percent of those planning to travel were headed to Europe, compared with 10 percent for Mexico.The agency is organizing a round-trip flight from Dallas/Fort Worth Airport to London next week for $615, including taxes and fees. Students can stay at European hostels for $15 to $40 a night, said Patrick Evans, STA marketing and communications manager. Those prices are about what students might pay at a resort in Cancun, and parents are more likely to help foot the bill for a trip to Europe, he said."Europe really has been a very strong seller for us in the past couple of weeks," Evans said. "I think it will start to become a more popular spring break destination."Ricardo Alday, a spokesman for the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C., said that violence in Mexico needs to be taken in context. He said about 1 million Americans live in Mexico and "that's the best indicator of how safe many areas of Mexico are."Alday said he doesn't want to downplay the violence in some border cities, but noted that Ciudad Juarez -- where more than 4,600 people have been murdered since January 2008 -- is about as far away from Cancun's resorts as Chicago is from Miami.TCU sophomore Adil Ahmed plans to travel to Guatemala on a mission trip with some doctors. The pre-med student plans to help distribute medicine to people outside the country's capital of Guatemala City.TCU junior Diego Kong also plans to visit Guatemala, but he's headed to the beaches and other tourist sites. The travel warnings helped him make his decision. But he knows other students who are planning to travel to Cancun."They're freshmen, so they don't really know what they're getting into," Kong said.GENE TRAINOR, 817-390-7419
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