Tourism is booming in Mexico. According to figures from the country's tourism agency, last year the number of visitors flying in from foreign countries set an all-time record.
CBS 5 spoke to several local travel agents who said those visitors aren't coming from Arizona.
"People will walk in the door and say we want to go somewhere. When I start to say Mexico, right away they go, 'Nope. I don't want to go there,'" said Paul Seiferth, owner of Terra Travel in Phoenix.
Seiferth's company has been busy this Labor Day weekend, booking trips all over the world. One place he says his clients aren't going is Mexico. Over the past three years the decline has been extreme.
"Our numbers have dropped 75 to 90 percent," said Seiferth.
Mexico's tourism agency says that's a contradiction to what they're seeing. Despite a raging drug war that has killed more than 50,000 people, last year 22.7 million visitors flew into the country. That set an all-time record.
Overall, travel from the United States only dropped 3 percent. Officials said tourists from countries like Brazil, Russia and China made up the difference.
Seiferth told CBS 5 travel to Cancun and Cabo San Lucas has remained steady. However, for the most part clients are choosing to travel to places like Hawaii and Europe. He said the number of people who are taking cruises is also up.
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