Rosarito Beach In The News

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 There are two schools of thought about Rosarito Beach, Baja California, Mexico, just 20 miles south of the U.S. border: One side assures us that the area is unsafe due to the increased violence between the warring drug cartels.
The second school maintains—with some 14,000 expatriate Americans largely agreeing—that Rosarito is like any city in the U.S.—there are areas to visit and those to avoid, and that common sense and good judgment apply as they would in any other city in the U.S.
To be frank, I had my own doubts about venturing there after checking out the State Department’s warning (www.state.gov) and researching on my own. The news seemed to vary between hysterical objections, and those that dismissed the reports as inflammatory and accused the media of re-hashing incidents that had occurred years before.
Somewhere between the two, I guessed, lay the truth.
In the interest of full disclosure, I was invited to participate in a press trip with two other writers from other publications to Rosarito Beach, which meant that my lodging and food would all be complimentary. (Reporters/writers are often offered these kinds of trips from convention and visitors’ bureaus; many of the big outlets, including Conde Nast Traveler and The New York Times forbid their writers from accepting free trips, reputedly to ensure unbiased reporting.) My financial obligation was for airfare and spending money, but nothing more.
It was low season in late January and the streets were relatively quiet. Rosarito Beach will soon see a huge number of Spring Breakers, if all goes well. The beachside city has long been the destination of choice for college students from California; not only is it close and easy to get to, but the drinking age is 18. This month and in the coming months, the streets and hotels will, hopefully, swell with visitors from all parts of the United States. As we were going to press, it was announced that the city would also host an international surf tournament beginning April 3. The three-day event, sponsored by the Association of Surfing Professionals, should help counter the low tourism figures so far this year, or at least that’s what officials hoped. Interestingly, soon after the announcement about the ASP event was made, the U.S. Justice Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives issued a statement urging college students to avoid Mexico—particularly Tijuana and Rosarito Beach—during spring break.
Rosarito Beach hosts more than one million visitors annually, according to the Rosarito Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau (www.rosarito.org). In the past, people flocked southward for the beautiful beaches, surfing, outdoor recreation, culture, food and nightlife. But events from the past few years have put a damper on the tourism industry. Type the location into a news search engine and it’s easy to see why people may not be too eager spend their ever-dwindling money and time there, although the exchange definitely favors U.S. currency at the moment. Still, the bad press and the geographic fact that it’s a border town, continues to weigh heavily on the resort town.  
Reports and news clips detail serious trouble in the area and cite an increased number of kidnappings, robberies and other violent crimes. A closer look, however, shows that the reports are in some cases dated and in others, have more to do with the ongoing battles between the drug cartels than with the tourists. While Tijuana, or TJ, as it’s known, is certainly a dubious destination whether day or night, Rosarito, south of Tijuana, has been a favorite place for American tourists since the 1920s.
Much of the credit for disrupting the corruption and both empowering and protecting visitors can go to Hugo Torres, the mayor of Rosarito Beach and also the owner of the Rosarito Beach Hotel. Since 50 percent of the economy depends on tourism, local government has made creating a safe, welcoming atmosphere a high priority. Tourism, said one source, began its decline in 2007 and continued to slump in 2008.
The Tourist Assistance and Attention Department, a 24/7, 365-day-per-year operation, was created to help visitors with complaints or concerns about corruption. Dialing 911 from a U.S. cell phone or dialing 066 from a public phone will connect the caller with someone to help. Last spring a Tourist Police Force, a bilingual staff to that provides information, protection and orientation to visitors, was also formed.  Finally, more than 300 residents of the area volunteered to help take back the streets; the Citizen Council for Tourist Attention includes Mexican-born residents, expatriates, tourism officials and other business people that act as a network to look out for and report any mistreatment/misconduct toward visitors from public employees, police, the tourist industry and other services. According to Fernando Toledo of the Tourist Assistance and Attention Department, “as of February of this year, we’ve received over 200 calls [to] CCTA, as well as from the police department, DA’s office, Red Cross and other agencies requesting us to assist, or to make a report about, incidents in the tourist areas.” Additionally, adds Toledo, they have “assisted more than 120 tourists and handed out more than 3,000 brochures to about 900 visitors” in its year of existence.
Laura Wong, president of the Rosarito Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau, has this to say about what people visiting the area should know: “They should know that we care for them and we are here to help, protect and guide them to [help] make their visit enjoyable.”
For now, locals are focusing on getting a positive message through. As we went to press and as a reaction to the ATF warning issued in early March, Mayor Hugo Torres issued the following statement:
“For decades Rosarito has hosted hundreds of thousands of Spring Breakers without a major incident. With the additional steps we have taken, such as starting a Tourist Police Force, they will be safer than ever this year and we look forward to welcoming them and ensuring they again have a safe and enjoyable visit. The violence we have had down here has been mainly between organized crime factions—and we have had almost none of that recently.”
Finally, he added, “Tourists are not and never have been targets.” • SCM