Mazatlan, Mexico’s mayor says his city is safe again for Canadians and other travellers after violence late last week in Sinaloa state between military/police and drug cartel members resisting the arrest of alleged drug trafficker Ovidio (“The Mouse”) Guzman. At the same time, Sunwing stated its policy for affected passengers, including refund or change options, the latter due today (Jan. 10).
Global Affairs on Sunday continued to advise Canadians travelling in Sinaloa to avoid non-essential travel “due to high levels of violence and organized crime,” but exempted Mazatlan itself from that warning.
Mexico’s Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval had called nearby Culiacan a “war zone” during the operation.
Edgar Gonzalez, in a video posted online by the City of Mazatlan, strolled through his city’s historic centre on Friday, shaking hands and posing for pictures with tourists.
“These same tourists who are practically established in Mazatlan are very confident, very calm, we see them in the historic centre relaxed, calm, no problems, not worried, they are in the restaurants, in the streets, in the galleries, on the boardwalk, everywhere completely relaxed, calm,” Gonzalez said in a news release that was translated and posted to Facebook by a regional travel organization.
A number of Canadian tourists in the northwestern area of Mexico had to remain in their hotels for several days after the arrest of a major alleged drug cartel leader led to violence in the region.
Some described the area as “back to normal” on the weekend, while others suggested an atmosphere of uneasiness persisted.
Several airports that had closed due to the violence had reopened by Saturday, and flights resumed from Mazatlan to cities in Western Canada including Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Vancouver.
Gonzalez noted that many tourists who visit the city return to live there, and that they themselves defend and promote that Mazatlan is calm and should be visited.
“It gives me a lot of peace and joy to see that everyone is on the streets,” Gonzalez said in the news release.
Alyssa Johnson of Onward and Outward Travel in Edmonton said customers didn’t seem to be put off by news reports about the violence.
“I think it’s pretty isolated in one area,” Johnson said, noting she’d just booked a trip for the Cancun area.
Mazatlan also posted a news release that noted business associations stepped up to help travellers whose flights out of the region were delayed due to the events, providing a number of free hotel rooms and meals.
Priority was given to low-income tourists, the elderly and those with disabilities, the release stated.
The violence followed the arrest of Guzman, who is a son of former cartel boss Joaquin (“El Chapo”) Guzman.
The Canadian government had issued a shelter-in-place advisory on Thursday, saying the widespread violence included burning cars, exchanges of fire and threats to essential infrastructure, including airports.
People who posted to a social media group for expats in Mexico said the violence was limited to isolated areas, and that they felt the advisories were just for precaution.
A message on MazInfo’s Facebook page read: “Dear friends, We are 100% OK, enjoying the sun and the waves and feeling totally safe… 98% of the photos in the news are from the city of Culiacan. We are in Mazatlan, 3 hours south. Yes, there has been at least one incident of a burned car on the outskirts, and roads to the airports of 3 cities were blocked with burning vehicles… As I write this at 7 a.m. Friday morning, I am sitting at an open-air coffee shop, looking at the ocean. Soon I will take my usual 1-1/2 km walk home. We are perfectly safe, staying aware of our surroundings, but completely calm.”
Sunwing
Meanwhile, Sunwing updated the trade on its Mazatlan program yesterday, noting that its southbound flights to the destination on Jan. 6 were cancelled due to the government travel advisory, thereby affecting the return flight, but that all northbound travellers had been safely repatriated as of the weekend, and regular Sunwing operations have resumed.
During the crisis, Sunwing says “every effort was also made to ensure the comfort and safety of passengers delayed in destination, including providing hotel accommodation, food and beverage, and airport transfers, at Sunwing’s cost, all while proactively scheduling recovery flights to be completed over the weekend.”
The tour company says that to accommodate southbound travellers impacted by the cancellations, customers have been provided with options to protect their travel plans, including the receipt of a full refund to their original form of payment within 30 days, no action required, or the ability to make a one-time change to their travel date or destination by today (Jan. 10) at current system rates if preferred.
For all other scheduled travel from Canadian airports up to and including Jan. 10, customers were provided the same one-time change option, available at applicable system rates if they choose.
Sunwing adds that the Mazatlán airport has since re-opened and the local area has stabilized.
It further thanked customers for their patience over its recent travel disruptions and extended “great gratitude” to travel advisor partners for their “for their ongoing efforts and (being) instrumental in advising mutual customers at every stage.”