"It's Safe Here," Insists Promoter After Tourist Murders Rock Oaxaca
Violence rocks Oaxaca: 9 missing tourists found dead, 5 men killed on highways. Tourism sector fears cancellations in Huatulco and other spots. Promoter downplays events, insists area is safe, urging visitors to come.
Sun, sand, and slayings? Mexico's dreamy Oaxaca coast – a magnet for tourists heading to hotspots like Huatulco, Puerto Escondido, and Zipolite – is gripped by fear after a horrifying string of violence has tourism bosses sweating bullets.
The nightmare kicked off with the chilling disappearance of nine young tourists traveling from Tlaxcala state, deep in central Mexico, aiming for the sunny shores of Huatulco. Their dream trip turned into every parent's worst nightmare: they were later found assassinated in neighboring Puebla state, their bodies dumped like trash along the Cuacnopalan-Oaxaca highway.
And the carnage didn't stop there.
Just this past Sunday, state prosecutors dropped another bombshell: five men were brutally gunned down in an armed ambush on the Barranca Larga-Ventanilla highway, turning another stretch of asphalt into a crime scene.
Now, the folks who make their living off Oaxaca's rep as the "jewel of southern Mexico" are freaking out. After reportedly raking in a staggering 22 billion pesos (that's about $1.3 BILLION greenbacks!) from 6 million tourists already in 2024, they're terrified this violence will send international visitors running for the hills – or rather, away from them.
With crucial money-making seasons like Holy Week, summer, and the end-of-year holidays breathing down their necks, the timing couldn't be worse.
"We're worried sick," Lucio Gopar, a local tourism promoter, practically pleaded to the EFE news agency. He fears the "bad image" swirling around Huatulco will trigger a tsunami of cancellations, especially from foreigners planning their getaways.
Trying to salvage the situation, the businessman desperately argued that the beloved beach town shouldn't be judged by these horrific, but hopefully isolated, incidents.
"You can't just write off Huatulco because of one event that happened," Gopar insisted. "Look, maybe in 20 years nothing like this has happened to us!"
He then launched into a damage-control charm offensive, begging tourists not to ditch their plans.
"So I would invite people, give us the chance! Come, trust that we are okay, you can check it out for yourself anytime," he implored. "I invite you to come, it's a very safe place!"
Safe? With nine dead travelers and five more murdered on the highways leading there? Convincing terrified tourists might be a tougher sell than beachfront timeshares right now.
