Now Mexico's real estate industry is fighting back. A day before President Barack Obama visits Mexico to discuss, among other things, the troublesome drug war issue, RE/MAX Investment Properties issued the results of its research claiming that tourist zones in Mexico are up to 26 times safer than many tourist zones in the United States.
Among its findings: The state of Baja California Sur, which includes some of my favorite destinations such as Cabo San Lucas, La Paz and Loreto, has a homicide rate 26 times lower than Orlando, 18 times lower than Miami, 17 times lower than West Palm Beach and 12 times lower than Tampa and Honolulu.
(Note to self: Stay away from Florida!)
Almost ditto for Quintana Roo, which includes Cancun and the Riviera Maya.
The report used some of the same sources Outposts has used, including a daily tally of drug cartel-related homicides kept by Excelsior newspaper, which through Tuesday listed only one homicide in 2009 in Baja California Sur (compared with 115 in the northern state of Baja California, which includes Tijuana), and four in Quintana Roo.
The report also states that BCS has a homicide rate 39 times lower than Washington D.C., 19 times lower than Houston and 17 times lower than Dallas. There's lots more but the point is as clear as a glass full of blanco tequila, which may or may not be offered to Obama.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: Dolphin goes airborne at Cabo Dolphins facility alongside the Cabo San Lucas marina. Credit: Pete Thomas / Los Angeles Times
