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With 14 killings in 36 hours in Cancun, tourists urged to be cautious

A rash of homicides is raising concerns about the safety of tourists in the popular getaway destination of Cancun, Mexico.

In a span of 36 hours, 14 people were killed in the city.

“Cancun is considered an area where the American people should exercise some caution,” advised Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez, the Consul General of Mexico in Austin. 

With this wave of violence, some are now debating their upcoming travel plans.

The Consulate General of Mexico says the Mexican government understands they have a problem when it comes to organized crime. 

“Tourism is an extremely important industry for us, it has increased at approximately 10 percent per year for the last four to five years and that means that for Mexico and for the Mexican government it’s extremely important to exercise all cautionary measures,” the consul general warned.

Gonzalez Gutierrez says the government has increased boots on the ground to ensure people stay safe — people like Alisha Battle and her husband who have been to Cancun for the last two years and have another vacation in the works.

Battle had nothing but good things to say about her trips and says she doesn’t plan to cancel her fall getaway. 

“I just think of it as going out to downtown or something it’s the same kind of thing, bad stuff can happen there so I mean, just be aware of your surroundings, but I think you have a good time.” 

Currently, there aren’t any travel restrictions for popular beach destinations including Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, Tulum and Riviera Maya.

But if people want to cancel their vacations to Mexico, they should first check cancellation policies with both their airline and resort.

Travel agent Philip de Albuquerque with Travel Partners says the first call should be to your airline because sometimes people receive money back and sometimes they receive a flight credit. The next call should be to the resort to find out what the cancellation policy is. He says if it’s not too close to the departure date people can usually get most of their money back.