The largest West Coast travel firm specializing in student spring break travel says it has canceled its planned trips to Baja California because of the crime crisis in Mexico.
Thousands of students from 50 colleges will have a new destination: Palm Springs.
“Many of our existing customers and their families are concerned as a result of the recent Mexico travel warnings issued by various government agencies,” said Thomas Jaenichen, owner of SWAT Travel in Costa Mesa.
On March 2, the Los Angeles office of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms urged students to avoid northern Baja California during spring break, specifically cautioning against trips to Tijuana and Rosarito Beach.
Drug violence claimed 6,290 lives last year, double the previous year, and more than 1,000 in the first eight weeks of 2009.
Palm Springs, its tourism industry hit hard by the national recession, has reversed course on its long-standing constraints on spring break. It now welcomes students and their dollars to the desert resort.
Mexican officials have been waging a battle against U.S. government alerts and news reports about violence in Mexico.
