Rosarito Beach Tourism Strongly Rebounds as Officials Report Busy And Incident-Free July Fourth Weekend By Ron Raposa
ROSARITO BEACH, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO --- The summer is definitely showing signs of increased tourism over the past twelve to fifteen months for this popular seaside vacation destination just 20 miles south of the border from San Diego.
“We have made a major effort to increase security and comfort for our visitors,” said Mayor Hugo Torres.
“With the new bi-lingual Tourist Police Force and 24-hour ombudsman office for tourists along with tourist information booths on the weekends, our guests can feel more peace of mind and confidence in coming to visit our city.”
The Fourth of July, traditionally one of the better weekends of the summer, was in fact the best weekend of this summer with average overall occupancy at 75 percent for Friday and Saturday, with several hotels close to or at 100 percent.
But the best part was that again, there were no reported incidents of crime against tourists. This marks an incident-free summer that actually began with Spring Break.
That fact is a powerful testimonial to the new administration’s commitment to making Rosarito a safe, secure and fun place to visit for anyone who has wanted to but hesitated over concerns for their safety.
It is also something that city officials are very proud of and would like more people north of the border to know about since Rosarito’s economy largely depends on tourism.
“It’s nice to see that hotel occupancy is back on the rise,” said Rosarito Convention & Visitors Bureau President Laura Wong. “It was good to see so many families and others here enjoying the weekend. Rosarito has so much to offer to its visitors.”
“We are working hard to counter the negative publicity raised by media reports connected to the government’s crackdown on drug cartels, which has nothing to do with tourists but nevertheless creates concern with some Americans.”
“I believe that people are finally realizing that a few highly publicized incidents in general do not impact visitor safety,” Mayor Torres said. “With the recently taken actions Baja is safer than ever for its millions of annual visitors.”
Raul Aragon, Rosarito’s delegate to the Baja State Secretary of Tourism office, also added, “Because so many hotels were at or near 100 percent occupancy for the Fourth of July holiday and there were no tourist-related crimes reported, people went back home with a more positive impression of Rosarito and Baja.”