Mexico Wants American Tourists to 'Remember Acapulco' Laura Bly - USA TODAY
go to original April 3, 2012

In an episode of the hit television series Mad Men, advertising honcho Don Draper plans a getaway to one of the most iconic beach resorts in the world: Acapulco, home of daring cliff divers by day and cocktail-laced debaucheries by night.

That was 1964.

Flash forward to 2012, and the onetime haunt of Hollywood starlets, international jetsetters and canoodling presidents-to-be (both the Kennedys and the Clintons honeymooned here) has become a symbol for the human and economic toll exacted by Mexico's ongoing war with rival drug cartels. Foreign tourism has plummeted, prompted in part by headlines like "Headless bodies flood Acapulco sidewalk" (from the Jan. 9, 2011 New York Daily News, reporting on a particularly gruesome discovery outside a local shopping center).

Now, a new promotional campaign and English-language website dubbed "Remember Acapulco" is trying to reassure would-be visitors - and rekindle some of that old glamor.

"The goal is to regain confidence," said Graciela Baez Ricardez, head of tourism for the State of Guerrero (where last month's 7.4 earthquake caused no damage to the city's hotels or other tourist facilities). "We realize that Acapulco has faced many challenges over the past few years and we want to remind travelers why they fell in love with Acapulco in the first place. This was a destination that attracted the world's most elite travelers; the glamour, hospitality and charm still exists and needs to be brought back to the forefront."

A recently expanded U.S. State Department travel warning advises that Americans defer non-essential travel to areas further than two blocks inland of the Costera Miguel Aleman Boulevard, which parallels the popular beach areas, and a quick perusal of RememberAcapulco.com reveals nothing about the city's efforts to beef up security. (It does, however, boast that "if there was an Olympics for nightlife, Acapulco would win a gold medal.")

But a multi-million dollar "Safe Guerrero" campaign, launched late last year, includes new lighting along Costera Miguel Aleman, the placement of more than 600 surveillance cameras and the deployment of federal security forces to take over nighttime law enforcement. As a result, officials say, homocide rates have decreased 40% since October.

Meanwhile, Mexican billionnaire Carlos Slim, a frequent Acapulco visitor, is spearheading a project to fund a marine museum, transportation improvements and new hotel developments, mostly in the town's historic section.

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