The often repeated saying that the violence in Mexico is confined to warring drug cartels and criminal organizations and doesn’t affect tourists was laid bare last week as two foreign female visitors died when they became caught in crossfire at a street-side restaurant in Tulum.
The victims of the shootout between rival gangs were from Germany and India, the latter a travel blogger who lived in San Jose, California. Three others, two German men and a woman from the Netherlands, were injured.
According to several reports, the Indian blogger, identified as Anjali Ryot, had posted photos of herself smiling on her Instagram account shortlybefore her death, extolling the virtues of Tulum, one of the Riviera Maya’s most popular tourist resorts.
Days after the incident, federal authorities moved 450 National Guard and Mexican Army officers into Tulum to boost security, as well as calm the fears of tourists and foreign governments. In the wake of the shooting, Germany’s Foreign Ministry advised its citizens “to stay indoors and only venture out with extreme caution.”
Although this single incident is unlikely to dissuade many foreign tourists from scrapping their vacations in the sun-drenched Caribbean state of Quintana Roo, the disturbing levels of gang-related violence in the region, fueled by turf wars exacerbated by rising sales of drugs to both Mexicans and foreigners, is becoming a major concern to local politicians and business leaders, afraid that their tourist cash cow could be endangered.
The Quintana Roo state tourism office reported that from January to July of this year, 3.4 million foreigners and 2.6 million Mexicans have flown to the state.