Americans Returning to Baja California as Crime Dips Associated Press
go to original December 13, 2013

Live It to Believe It - Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, Mexico (MECabohotel)

Dan Johnson hadn't crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in years despite the fact the San Diego native lives 20 minutes away and spent most of his life making weekend runs for Baja California's surf and fish tacos.

"Everybody was scared," Johnson said of San Diegans' impression of their Mexican neighbor after violence spiked about eight years ago. But now Johnson, like an increasing number of Americans, is being lured back by a region that has transformed itself while fighting the drug war.

Once centered on timeshares and rowdy bars largely frequented by Americans and Canadians, northern Baja California's tourism industry is rebounding with the exploding fame of local chefs, the expansion of boutique hotels and a burgeoning art scene creating a buzz in travel magazines.

This year, foreigners made up more than 45 percent of all visitors, after dropping to a low of less than 25 percent when cartels unleashed unprecedented bloodshed, leaving beheaded bodies on Tijuana's streets. Sport fishing licenses — which are almost exclusively sought by Americans — have increased more than 75 percent during that time, according to Baja California's tourism department.

Read the rest at NPR.org

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