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Over 1,300 people have already signed a new petition to help Cozumel this week. The online notice calls on the US Government to update its travel alert for Mexico to make clear Cozumel is safe. |
Tourism in Cozumel has been hit hard by the recent flu scare, despite the fact that the island has remained open for business and without a single case of the new human H1N1 virus.
Cruise ships have suspended stops in Cozumel, probably until June, but the Governor of the State of Quintana Roo, Félix González Canto, said last week that they may come back sooner if the US Government's Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) downgrades its blanket alert for Mexico.
The petition calls on the CDC to "specifically identify the areas in Mexico where there are greater and lesser risks, and where there are none, as this general alert is unfairly and seriously affecting tourist areas where there are no cases, nor any threat from the H1N1 Influenza A."
In just a few days over 1,300 people have already signed the petition, brainchild of local scuba operation manager Antonio Madrazo, originally from Mexico City.
Antonio told This is Cozumel today, "I can't keep quiet in the face of the enormous injustice that is happening", which is why he started the petition and posting links to it on website travel forums on Monday afternoon.
The Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) is also reported to have written to the CDC, requesting changes are made to the travel alert so cruise ships can start docking in Mexican ports again.
However, association members, Carnival and Royal Caribbean cruise lines, were unable to confirm this week whether the possibility remains for them to dock in Cozumel again before mid-June.
Visit this link if you would like to sign the petition online.
