Travel firm: Mexico City trips on the rise

STAMFORD — The longrunning dispute over funding for President Donald Trump’s proposed border barrier, which has come to a head with the partial federal government shutdown, has not discouraged visits to the Mexican capital.

Among users of onlinetravel firm Kayak, Mexico City ranks as the top “trending” travel destination, with a

73 percent increase in searches, according to a new report by the Stamford-based company that analyzed 1.5 billion annual user searches.

In its 2019 Travel Hacker Guide, Kayak highlights Mexico City being named the

2018 “Design Capital of the World.” Artists and creative entrepreneurs are transforming the city, with highlights including the Fusion art-and-design bazaar, the guide said.

Kayak’s findings align with other data showing a surge in travel to Central America’s largest country by population and land. Some

126 million live in Mexico, with more than 21 million in the Mexico City area, according to U.S. Central Intelligence Agency data.

A record 10.6 million tourists visited the country in the first quarter of 2018, up nearly 13 percent from the same period in 2017, according to the Mexico Tourism Board.

But many agencies, including the U.S. State Department, urge caution in traveling to the country, including its capital.

The State Department gives a “Level 2: Exercise increased caution” travel advisory for Mexico City. It reports widespread violent and non-violent crime.

Last July, a 27-year-old American woman was shot and killed at a taqueria in the city by a stray bullet from motorcycle gunmen apparently targeting a bouncer at the establishment.

“Pay particular caution to areas outside of the frequented tourist areas, although petty crime occurs frequently in tourist areas as well,” the State Department advisory says in part. “Neighborhoods such as Tepito and Guerrero warrant additional vigilance, especially at night.”

For the entire country, the State Department has issued a Level 2 warning.

Due to crime, it recommends not traveling to the states of Colima, Guerrero, Michoacán, Sinaloa and Tamaulipas.

Kayak advises travelers to drink plenty of water and take “preventative measures” to avoid altitude sickness in Mexico City.

After Mexico City, Kayak ranked nine other trending destinations. They are Bali, Indonesia; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; the Bahamas; Guadalajara, Mexico; Lisbon, Portugal; Paris, France; Rome, Italy; Maui, Hawaii; and Munich, Germany.

In Kayak’s overall standings, Las Vegas, New York City, Los Angeles, Orlando, Fla., Chicago, Denver, Miami, San Francisco, London and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., ranked as the most-popular destinations.

Getty Images Mexico City cathedral framed under the huge flag, at the Zocalo square. The flag is lowered at sunset each evening, and raised at 8 every morning.

A visitor in the courtyard and garden of the Casa Azul, the birth and death place of painter Frida Kahlo, now a museum in Mexico City, Mexico.