Crime is down 90 percent in Los Cabos since 2017, according to the latest statistics released by the Los Cabos Tourism Board. Mirroring recent comments made to Travel Agent by Los Cabos Tourism Board Managing Director Rodrigo Esponda, the Tourism Board reports that the implementation of a new security plan has resulted in a sharp decline in crime, following a spike in gang violence last year.

The five-point security plan involves working with the U.S. State Department to enhance security protocols, creating a “Rapid Response Network,” an accelerated security surveillance program, adding new security bases and personnel, and a hotel security committee.

On the subject of the gang turf war that was at the center of the violence, one villa owner told the Tourism Board, “…the Mexican federal government brought in literally thousands of military and federal police, totally cleaned it up, and left a small presence to insure everything was fine. It’s now been six months, and I can tell you being there a third of the time, every month, that I feel safer there than in parts of Costa Mesa and Santa Ana, 15-20 minutes from my home in Newport Beach, CA.”

During the decline in crime, tourism numbers in Los Cabos have been on the rise. Esponda told Travel Agent that the destination saw an 8 percent uptick in air arrivals through the middle of this year, with hotel occupancy remaining at around 70 percent on average.

The violence in 2017 prompted the State Department to issue a Travel Warning for Los Cabos. In January of this year, the destination was downgraded to Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution, as part of a larger overhaul of the way in which the State Department presents travel safety information.

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