Danger Tours

Canadians are devoted to their winter getaways. Long self-lauding for our toughness in facing the extremes of Canadian winters, we are, at heart, a nation of snowbirds, anxious to depart the geography that brings us hot and humid summers and icy-cold, snow-swept, wind-chilling winters. It can be said that Canadians are quite simply intrepid travellers, curious about the world outside their own, particularly those that feature wide sandy beaches, clear skies and tropical sun.

If there are areas of the world famed for their exotic and exalted beauty, warm oceans featuring luxury hotels where the indigenous population can be seen only wearing service uniforms the better to service the needs of the Canadian high-rollers, there we are, luxuriating in the warmth and the rays of that golden orb, chuckling to ourselves about the plight of our more sedentary, winter-house-bound neighbours at home.

Cuba, Mexico, Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, are no doubt great places to view. For many, however, the very thought of ensconcing themselves on sun-warmed beaches sipping cocktails and 'chilling out', remains foreign to their values of living with what the natural world and the environment has gifted us with. These are the people who travel for the purpose of informing themselves, visiting other countries for a quick view of history, culture, art.

But for the diehard fans of sun, sea and endless white sand, Mexico seems to top the list. And Canadians will not be put off by the bloody drug-fuelled cartel wars that have gruesomely sacrificed the lives of ordinary Mexicans along with drug-gang members, Mexican police and public officials. Staying within the confines of safe, tourist areas far from the trouble-prone areas keeps them smug and happy.

And should hardy Canadian tourists be exposed to danger, to violent theft, to rape and to death, why it can happen to the unwary and the unfortunate but never, ever to themselves. The Government of Canada may issue its diplomatically carefully-worded travel alerts, and Canadian newspapers may be rife with stories of assaults and murders, but nothing comes between Canadians and their holidays.

Mexican hotels may be built in vulnerable terrain, may be shoddily constructed, may be negligent in their use of volatile gases and blow up, killing unfortunate tourists, but that's life, right? It may be dangerous to tread beyond the safe confines of restricted tourist areas, but problems can happen anywhere, right? A couple can return claiming to have been robbed, beaten and raped on vacation, but you can't believe everything you read, right?

Canadian tourism in Mexico has not declined, not a bit of it, despite the variety and prevalence of misfortunes Canadian tourists experience while enjoying themselves at the southern tip of our Continent. We want our leisure, our sun and our fun, and we want it when we want it, where we want it, and that's right too - right?