Mexico RV tourist....

As we talk with other RVers on our travels around the US we find most people we speak with have an unreasonable fear of Mexico. They hear the stories of killings etc. and believe it is the entire country that is a crime scene. People have no perspective that crime in any country other than their own occurs in certain areas and not the entire country. A story recently appeared online showing the most violent cities in the world. Below I will list only those from the US and Mexico - Brazil and Honduras topped the list but Jamaica is on there too. All kinds of murders and massacres happen all over the US in the daily news but it seems people only see what happens in other countries (Mexico in particular) while they seem to ignore slaughter in a church in Charleston and all the other such incidents occurring in the US. In Mexico the killings are almost always criminals killing criminals and related stuff. In the US all you need to do is go to a movie theater or send your kids to elementary school to experience a massacre. I don't believe US citizens are being reasonable in their fear of crime in Mexico. I do think that is the biggest reason for the decline in RVers in Mexico - we have seen at least a 50% reduction.

50 most violent cities in the world
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/50-most-violent-cities-in-the-world/ss-AAc3X6t

* Murder rate is calculated per 100,000 citizens overall.

50. CUERNAVACA, MEXICO
Homicides: 168
Population: 660,215
Murder rate*: 25.45

48. TORREON, MEXICO
Homicides: 330
Population: 1,186,637
Murder rate: 27.81

45. TIJUANA, MEXICO
Homicides: 502
Population: 1,678,880
Murder rate: 29.90

43. CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO
Homicides: 289
Population: 868,145
Murder rate: 33.29

41. VICTORIA, MEXICO
Homicides: 117
Population: 345,080
Murder rate: 33.91

40. BALTIMORE, USA
Homicides: 211
Population: 622,104
Murder rate: 33.912

34. NUEVO LAREDO, MEXICO
Homicides: 142
Population: 406,598
Murder rate: 34.92

31. OBREGON, MEXICO
Homicides: 120
Population: 318,184
Murder rate: 37.71

28. NEW ORLEANS, USA
Homicides: 150
Population: 378,715
Murder rate: 39.61

27. JUAREZ, MEXICO
Homicides: 538
Population: 1,347,165
Murder rate: 39.94

24. CULIACAN, MEXICO
Homicides: 384
Population: 910,564
Murder rate: 42.17

22. DETROIT, USA
Homicides: 309
Population: 688,701
Murder rate: 44.87

19. ST. LOUIS, USA
Homicides: 159
Population: 318,416
Murder rate: 49.93

3. ACAPULCO, MEXICO
Homicides: 883
Population: 847,735
Murder rate: 104.16

Here is some info that might help from the web:

From NBC News:
"MEXICO CITY — Sunbathers stretch out along white beach after white beach on the sweltering Caribbean coast. Tequila-swigging revelers pack the glittering nightclubs wall to wall. Surfers carve up the Pacific waves.

Yup, that sounds like Mexico all right — but it’s actually been a summer like no other.

As the season draws to an end, officials here are boasting a bumper season in the country’s top resorts, including Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos and Cancun, where hotels have been packed to the highest levels ever.

The total number of tourists in Mexico hit a record in the first half of the year, with more than 14 million foreigners touching down, almost 20 percent more compared to last year, the Tourism Department said.

The spike in visitors, especially Americans, comes after several years of stagnation in the travel sector here amid a slow global economic recovery and fears of gory cartel violence."

And this: From Trading Economics

Mexico Tourist Arrivals 1960-2015 | Data | Chart | Calendar | Forecast
Tourist Arrivals in Mexico decreased to 1424.09 Thousand in April of 2015 from 1710.19 Thousand in March of 2015. Tourist Arrivals in Mexico averaged 566.52 Thousand from 1960 until 2015, reaching an all time high of 1952.56 Thousand in December of 2014 and a record low of 56.59 Thousand in May of 1962. Tourist Arrivals in Mexico is reported by the Banco de Mexico.

Go to this site and look at the chart:

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/mexico/tourist-arrivals

Hope this helps.

briansue wrote:
As we talk with other RVers on our travels around the US we find most people we speak with have an unreasonable fear of Mexico. They hear the stories of killings etc. and believe it is the entire country that is a crime scene. People have no perspective that crime in any country other than their own occurs in certain areas and not the entire country. A story recently appeared online showing the most violent cities in the world. Below I will list only those from the US and Mexico - Brazil and Honduras topped the list but Jamaica is on there too. All kinds of murders and massacres happen all over the US in the daily news but it seems people only see what happens in other countries (Mexico in particular) while they seem to ignore slaughter in a church in Charleston and all the other such incidents occurring in the US. In Mexico the killings are almost always criminals killing criminals and related stuff. In the US all you need to do is go to a movie theater or send your kids to elementary school to experience a massacre. I don't believe US citizens are being reasonable in their fear of crime in Mexico. I do think that is the biggest reason for the decline in RVers in Mexico - we have seen at least a 50% reduction.

50 most violent cities in the world
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/50-most-violent-cities-in-the-world/ss-AAc3X6t

* Murder rate is calculated per 100,000 citizens overall.

50. CUERNAVACA, MEXICO
Homicides: 168
Population: 660,215
Murder rate*: 25.45

48. TORREON, MEXICO
Homicides: 330
Population: 1,186,637
Murder rate: 27.81

45. TIJUANA, MEXICO
Homicides: 502
Population: 1,678,880
Murder rate: 29.90

43. CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO
Homicides: 289
Population: 868,145
Murder rate: 33.29

41. VICTORIA, MEXICO
Homicides: 117
Population: 345,080
Murder rate: 33.91

40. BALTIMORE, USA
Homicides: 211
Population: 622,104
Murder rate: 33.912

34. NUEVO LAREDO, MEXICO
Homicides: 142
Population: 406,598
Murder rate: 34.92

31. OBREGON, MEXICO
Homicides: 120
Population: 318,184
Murder rate: 37.71

28. NEW ORLEANS, USA
Homicides: 150
Population: 378,715
Murder rate: 39.61

27. JUAREZ, MEXICO
Homicides: 538
Population: 1,347,165
Murder rate: 39.94

24. CULIACAN, MEXICO
Homicides: 384
Population: 910,564
Murder rate: 42.17

22. DETROIT, USA
Homicides: 309
Population: 688,701
Murder rate: 44.87

19. ST. LOUIS, USA
Homicides: 159
Population: 318,416
Murder rate: 49.93

3. ACAPULCO, MEXICO
Homicides: 883
Population: 847,735
Murder rate: 104.16

I know what you are trying to get at but comparing murder rates per thousand, per city doesnt tell the real story.

The comparison needs to look at VIOLENT Crimes of all types and Property Crimes to be meaningful.

I agree that people often unfairly bash Mexico for it's crime rates. And that traveling in Mexico for the average Tourist or RV'er is as safe or nearly as safe as in the US.

But the type of crimes one is most likely to encounter is the property crime not Murder. Focusing on Murder tells us very little and misses the real point.

I have spent a good deal of my life Living and working and traveling in some of the worlds true hot spots, third world countries and failed states. Only once have I been the (almost) victim of a crime and it was mostly my own stupidity, and my bladder, that put me in a situation that I should have avoided altogether and it was in Morocco not Mexico. But many people, when traveling somehow lose all their common sense and do things they would never do at home. (like leaving all their valuables and passports on the beach as they go swimming)thus making a target of themselves for the common thief.

I intend to spend most of this winter in Baja with no reservations about crime at all. Just GO! Have a good time and take the normal precautions you would at home.

rvmex wrote:
Perhaps many of you do not know me but a few pehaps do, My name is Fausto Garcia from Hermosillo former owner of the Kino Bay RV Park from 1973 to 2005, and I have a question fo all RV'rs coming or came to Mexico, your answer will be very much appreciated.......

QUESTION: In the past 12 years how much does you think the RV Tourism has decreassed in Mexico. You can give me a percentage....

Thank you.....

Are you the person who owns the artificial turf business?
Why are you asking? Are you thinking of opening a new RV park?

I tahk you all for your information and answer to my question, this information will be used to the benefits of all RV'ers coming to Mexico....
I would like ask all of you to answer just the question all answers will be very much appreciated...
To the caravans...Just let me know when you have a date and number and will see if I have enough room for your rigs...
Remember to all of you RV'ers comiing this way, since there is no RV Park here in Hermosillo, if any one has a problem mechanical, health, accident, just let me know and will be more than happy to help....

Fausto..

We enjoyed dry camping on a beach for seven winters, until 2009. Our costs to do this was to have a good solar power system, and about ten dollars a day to stay and pay for water. To indicate the drop-off in RVing in Mexico, as we know it, we had a Christmas dinner at a park in southern California last Christmas (one of several in the past five years held there) and 21 folks, or about 12 rigs,attended who had enjoyed the dry camping beach that held no more than 15 units. These people did not go to Mexico last winter, and nearly all of them will likely never drive there again. They cite higher prices for fuel and toll roads and a big one - the insistence to ask for American Dollars for payment of RV sites. Back in the day, even while spending time dry camping, we always spent a fair amount of time, and pesos, in RV parks on our Mexico trips. In my own opinion, Mexico is turning its back on RV tourism in favour of fly-in, short term stays. Thus, hotels and condos get built, land becomes more valuable, RV parks close for one reason or another. Security, or perceived lack of, underlies a lot of that.

But the type of crimes one is most likely to encounter is the property crime not Murder. Focusing on Murder tells us very little and misses the real point.

I agree - but I did not write the story - I just quoted it. I think it is very difficult to get accurate crime stats anywhere - even the US - where the FBI and Dept. of Justice keep records to make the head swim.

Two points I try to make.......

We should not be judging an entire country - any country - by what happens in certain specific areas. Because there is a lot of crime in some areas does not mean the whole country is a war zone.

People seem to believe they are safe in the US but they won't be safe if they go out of the US. The press does not help. No one thinks the entire US is like Detroit. Why think Mexico is less safe than much of the US?

I am also pointing out what I hear from people in RV parks in the US when we tell them we spend our winters in Mexico. I have been hearing it for over 40 years but more so in recent years with all the cartel stuff. All we hear is the cartels this and the cartels that. If we don't get killed we will be kidnapped or our vehicle will be stolen or just about any crime you can think of will surely happen to us. Well it never has - not in all the years - not one single crime has happened to us in Mexico.

So to try to reply to the question - we think RV travel is down in some areas of Mexico. But in other areas we cannot find a space available. Some RV parks have closed but I think they put themselves out of business by charging too much and providing very little for the money - and requiring US dollars which we do not have in Mexico. How much should we really pay for an overnight stop when all we need is a little electricity? Much easier to find a Pemex where we can park for free. We very much want to support the RV parks in Mexico and we do whenever we can - but many have priced themselves out of business. It is not the idea that we cannot afford to pay but that we are being asked to pay far more than what we get for our money. That said - the same is happening in the US which is why we seem to be evolving into Walmart parkers even though we hate the whole idea.

My wife and I love to visit New Orleans. Statistically, it's a very dangerous city. But, it just doesn't seem like it (no doubt there are reasons). We're all different, I'm into RVing, traveling in a large diesel pusher, for the convenience, the comfort, the pleasure, the affordability, .....etc. For us, all things considered, it's just not as convenient to RV into Mexico, nor does it offer the pleasures that we seek.
I have opinions on how and why Mexico has changed, in the last 45 years. But, IMO my opinions have no bearing on the subject matter of this thread. None of us have the power to change these things. Primarily, I just want the rest of my life to be convenient and peaceful. And, my relatives in Delicias (in the state of Chihuahua Mexico) seem to want the same.

When an RV park in the U.S.A charges 40 us dollars and the customer gets a level pull through sight with decent gravel and grass on both sides, water, electricity 30 amp and 50 amp, sewer, and cable with a shade tree to boot, and the RV park owners in Mexico expect to charge the same 40 us dollars for a muddy uneven, dirty back in with no water, no sewer, and having to run an electric extension cord for more than 100 feet to plug into a house hold semi burnt outlet with maybe 105 volts, that is way out of proportion.

Only some of us old timers can handle that type of RV park, since some of us were travelling in small VW campers and were glad to be able to have some electricity if available, if RV parks in Mexico want to lure some of the turistas, they are going to have to get a better infrastructure, at least 30 amps, water, and sewer and a little better spots, the trend in Canada and the U.S.A is for bigger RV'S that require more electric power, they may go to Mexico once and never go back with the rig but rent or purchase property, wait until time shares are started in Mexico.

navegator

From the photos I see and the people I have corresponded with there seems to be plenty of RV'ers even with huge class A's still crowding the RV Parks of at least BAJA. And the beaches. From what I can tell, and there are others out there with more direct and recent experience than me, there are some nice parks with good infrastructure.

Paying in dollars instead of pesos for a site as a reason for not going to Mexico seems to be an odd reason to me as one poster wrote. If there is one price, ie $25 US Dollars or its equivalent in Pesos, Why not pay in Dollars? For the park owner it's a great hedge against inflation. I can understand why they ask this.

I recently looked at all the stats for tourism in Mexico and it is up dramatically this year. I have to assume that some part of that increase is also RV'ers.

I dont think it is quite the drastically black and white picture being painted by some posters here.