Many tourists going to Nogales, Sonora, for dentistry and other medical services are not deterred by the recent violence in Matamoros, a border city south of Brownsville, Texas, clinics say.
Four tourists were kidnapped in Matamoros, in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, on March 3. Two were killed as was a Mexican woman who happened to be nearby when the kidnappings took place. Reports say the group was traveling to Mexico so one of the tourists could get cosmetic surgery, which is cheaper in Mexico than in the United States.
The attack spurred questions on whether itβs safe to travel to Mexican border cities and towns, even in Sonora, which is more than 1,000 miles from where the killings took place.
βThe problem that happened was in Tamaulipas. Tamaulipas is no manβs land,β said Luis Rey Grimaldo, president of Canaco Servytur Nogales, the chamber of commerce in Nogales, Sonora, speaking in Spanish. βWe cannot compare it to Nogales, Sonora. It is very different here.β
U.S. advice for travel in Sonora
Tamaulipas is one of six states in Mexico where the U.S. State Department has issued a do-not-travel advisory, last updated in October, due to crime and kidnappings. The advisory for Sonora is the next level down, which is to reconsider travel.
In the last decade, from June 2012 to June 2022, there have been at least 149 deaths of Americans by non-natural causes in Sonora, according to State Department data. The top cause was auto accidents, which accounted for 46 deaths. Homicide was second at 40 deaths, 16 of which were in Nogales.
The State Department travel guidelines for Sonora include detailed restrictions on where and when U.S. government employees are allowed to travel for safety reasons, including avoiding certain parts of Nogales and only traveling between Hermosillo and Nogales during daylight hours, only on Federal Highway 15, and avoiding unnecessary stops due to incidents of sporadic, armed carjackings even during daylight hours.
In areas where travel by U.S. government employees is restricted, due to violent crime such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking and robbery, the government has limited ability to provide emergency services to any U.S. citizens who may need them, according to the State Department.
Grimaldo said such violence has been a problem across the entire border because of cartels fighting for territory. Nogales has gotten a lot safer in the last few years, he said. Tourists should still be aware when moving away from touristy areas or traveling at night, but itβs much better, he said.
There have been three homicides of Americans in Nogales reported to the U.S. State Department from the start of 2019 to June of 2022, federal data show.
Restaurants, streets bustle
Besides being president of the chamber of commerce for the last year, Grimaldo owns a business that sells different types of insurance for locals and tourists.
He lives off of tourism, so he knows the economic problems this type of violence can cause, he said. It can make the Americans not want to cross the border, and that affects many aspects of the economy.
βWhat tourist is going to go to a place where they donβt feel safe?β he said
But itβs clear, by the numbers of Americans on the streets in Nogales, Sonora, that tourists feel relatively safe. On the weekends, restaurants there, like La Roca, which is close to the border, and one of Grimaldoβs storefronts, are full of Americans, he said.
But in general, heβs noticed through his business that tourism has gone down over the years, as medical tourism has gone up, especially for visits to dentists.
Itβs common to see people speaking English and walking the streets of Nogales, going into doctorβs offices, checking out the street vendors and getting food in one of the many downtown restaurants.
Tim Jahns was in Nogales on Thursday from Tucson and said he feels safe in the touristy areas. His mother comes to Mexico for dental work.
βIf itβs bad for business, itβs not going to be tolerated in the tourist areas,β he said of cartel violence.
βWeβre definitely being cautiousβ
Bonnie Sortland and her husband Rand Sortland, of Green Valley, were also in Nogales on Thursday, with family from out of town, just to shop. But the last time they had come down, before the incident in Matamoros, was so Bonnie could get some dental work done.
She said a lot of their friends in the U.S. are nervous to come to Mexico, especially since the recent incident. But she and her husband travel to different touristy parts of Mexico regularly, and they feel safe.
For the most part they avoid traveling at night or staying in border towns, she said.
βWeβre definitely being cautious,β she said. βI would feel uncomfortable later in the evening, but not daytime with others, traveling together.β
Also, if theyβre just going to Nogales, they feel safer parking on the U.S. side and walking across, which is what they did Thursday.
There are many dental clinics in the bustling downtown. They have names like Relax Dental and Advanced Dental, in English, reflecting the fact that the majority of their clientele are from the United States.
Employees of many of these dental clinics say they have not seen a drop in their clientele since the incident in Matamoros.
Lines, parking mentioned, not fear
They are like Stephanie Fernandez, a dentist at EndoDent, who said she hasnβt heard from any of her clients that they feel nervous about their safety since the incident in Matamoros, and no one has canceled an appointment.
There are four dentists at the clinic and about 80% of their clientele come down from the states for services that include root canals, cleanings, dental prosthesis, fillings and braces.
While procedures like dental work and cosmetic surgery are usually far cheaper in Mexico than in the U.S., many Americans also travel south for orthopedic work such as knee or hip replacements, which can cost half what it does in the U.S., according to reporting by NPR.
The Nogales Orthopedic Center, downtown on Calle Campillo, which has a variety of services including traumatology and orthopedics, neurosurgery, physical therapy and rehabilitation, and gynecology and obstetrics, serves a clientele of which about 45% are Americans, said administrator Angelina Arreola.
The incident in Matamoros was random violence, and that happens, Arreola said in Spanish. But the centerβs clients havenβt mentioned being afraid for their safety in Nogales.
βThe only thing they tell me is, βWow, sorry Iβm late but the line was huge to leave the United States for Mexico,β β Arreola said. βAnd they also tell me, βI couldnβt find a parking space.β β
Visit Tucson gets calls after incidents
Every time thereβs an attack on Americans anywhere in Mexico, tourists get concerned about safety, said president and CEO of Visit Tucson Felipe Garcia. Following such an incident, Visit Tucson, the cityβs destination marketing organization, gets calls from people who are concerned about travel to Mexico.
βWe cannot read peopleβs minds, but weβre very sure that unfortunately itβs going to create some impact on individuals traveling south of the border,β Garcia said.
Visit Tucson operates two visitor centers in Sonora, and tourism that happens there also positively affects Arizonaβs economy, he said. Visit Tucson representatives meet regularly with tourism officials in Sonora and law enforcement on both sides of the border.
He said itβs safe to travel given that tourists follow recommendations, which are to travel during the day, consider staying in more populated areas depending where you are, follow state department guidelines, and be aware of your surroundings.
Tourists traveling to Sonora are βa market that we pay a lot of attention to, and we want to make sure that they are safe and that we have cross-border tourism between our two countries and our two states,β he said.
White House Press Secretary says "Γ€ttacks on U.S. citizens are unacceptable," following the kidnapping of four Americans in Mexico. This comes after a road trip to Mexico for cosmetic surgery ended with two Americans dead, and two others found alive in a rural area near the Gulf coast, after a violent shootout and abduction that was captured on video, officials said Tuesday. The surviving Americans were back on U.S. soil after being sped to the border near Brownsville, the southernmost tip of Texas, in a convoy of ambulances and SUVs escorted by Mexican military Humvees and National Guard trucks with mounted machine guns. The U.S. citizens were found in a rural area east of Matamoros called Ejido Tecolote on the way to the Gulf coast known as βBagdad Beach,β according to Mexican authorities. Shortly after entering Mexico Friday, the four were caught amid fighting between rival cartel groups in the city.
