Acapulco: travel warnings from US government

SECURITY MESSAGE : TRAVEL WITHIN GUERRERO STATE (INCLUDING ACAPULCO) NOVEMBER 21,2014

This message is to inform U.S. citizens that protests and violent incidents continue in Guerrero state in response to the disappearance of 43 students there.  Embassy personnel have been instructed to defer non-essential travel to Acapulco, by air or land, to include the federal toll road (“cuota”) 95D to/from Mexico City and Acapulco.  Furthermore, road travel in all other parts of the state remains prohibited.  Travel by air to and from Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo is still permitted.  The Embassy cautions U.S. citizens to follow the same guidelines.

http://mexico.usembassy.gov/eng/eacs_public_announcement.html
—————————————————————————————–

Below from
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2014/11/24/violent-protests-over-missing-students-in-mexico-cripples-acapulco-tourism/

The nightlife pulsed into the wee hours at Baby ‘O, the club famous for attracting the likes of Mexican heartthrob Luis Miguel and even U2’s Bono. Over the recent Revolution Day long weekend, when many were celebrating the start of the Mexican Revolution of 1910, the Acapulco landmark attracted hardly anyone – easily evident by the empty dance floor, idle waiters and absence of a line at the door.

“Everyone cancelled their plans,” quipped one of the doormen, noting that many weekenders from Mexico City were deterred by details of blockades on the highway to what was once considered the granddaddy of Mexican destinations.

Visitors have avoided Acapulco over the past six weeks as protests over the disappearance and possible deaths of 43 teacher trainees has caused chaos on the Mexico City-Acapulco highway and at times the Costera, Acapulco’s main tourist strip. Things worsened for the city last Friday after the U.S. Embassy in Mexico issued a travel warning advising Americans to avoid the Pacific resort city.

The ongoing protests are producing pain for the tourism sector, which generates an estimated 80 percent of all economic activity in Guerrero state – home to both Acapulco and the teacher trainees’ school in Ayotzinapa, which attracts students from some of Mexico’s most marginalized and impoverished municipalities.

Acapulco put Mexico on the global map with a mix of sun, sand and celebrities. It endures as one of the best-known brands in the tourism business – while Guerrero state remained relatively unknown.

Nowadays, “Guerrero is known worldwide,” overshadowing Acapulco for the stories about missing students and mass graves, says Erick de Santiago, president of a private sector initiative known as “Habla Bien de ACA,” or Speak Well of Here. (ACA can mean “here” in Spanish, but is also slang for Acapulco.)