Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - I am writing to inform everyone about a very important issue that greatly affects our community, and ask for your help to head off inaccurate headlines that have recently surfaced about the safety of traveling to Puerto Vallarta.

On April 22, 2011, the US Department of State updated its official travel warning regarding unsafe areas of Mexico to avoid. This warning, which you can read Here, added several new states to the last warning issued in September 2010.

The headline already making the rounds is that the "US Has Added Five Mexican States" to the travel warning, including Jalisco. While this is literally correct, it does not state the specific areas involved, and is very misleading.

Here is the text of the entire detail section on the Jalisco warning:

Nayarit and Jalisco: Official U.S. government employees are prohibited from traveling to Colotlan, Jalisco, and Yahualica, Jalisco, both near the Zacatecas border, because of an increasingly volatile security situation.

Concerns include roadblocks placed by individuals posing as police or military personnel and recent gun battles between rival transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) involving automatic weapons. You should defer non-essential travel to these cities.

In addition, the border areas between Jalisco state and the states of Zacatecas and Michoacán, as well as southern Nayarit state including the city of Tepic, have been sites of violence and crime involving TCOs. You should exercise extreme caution when traveling in these areas.

Due to recent TCO-mounted road blockades between the Guadalajara airport and the Guadalajara metropolitan areas, U.S. government employees are only authorized to travel between Guadalajara and the Guadalajara Airport during daylight hours.

There are NO WARNINGS against travel to Puerto Vallarta or the Bay of Banderas/Riveria Nayarit Region.

To clarify this, yesterday I wrote to Kelly Trainor, US Consul based in Nuevo Vallarta, who confirmed to me personally in her words: "...there are no specific warnings for the Municipality of Puerto Vallarta or Riviera Nayarit."

The warning relating to Guadalajara was based on an incident the night of January 15, 2011. This warning notes that this was the FIRST such incident in Guadalajara, and also notes that several individuals were arrested and detained in relation to this incident.

The rest of the warning pertains to parts of Jalisco that border Tepic, Zacatecas and Michoacan: these zones are all at least a 4 hour drive from Puerto Vallarta.

The Guadalajara metropolitan area has a population of about 4.4 million people, and in any city of that size, even in the US, there are bound to be any number of drug or gang-related or violent incidents in a given month.

I have personally driven to Guadalajara from Puerto Vallarta on the toll road as of last month, and will go again in early May, with no fear for my personal safety. Security has been elevated, and is very much in force everywhere you go.

Beach resort areas of Mexico are NOT given travel warnings, with the exceptions of the downtown areas of Acapulco and Mazatlan, where it is recommended to stay in tourist areas. The violence cited is between drug gangs and law enforcement, and not directed toward or involving tourists. The concern is for any effect on innocent bystanders.

The North American press treats "Mexico" like a small city that should be avoided, not a huge country of 110 million people, with 31 states and Mexico City. They rarely differentiate between Ciudad Juarez in Chihuahua (at the US Border, 4 days drive from Puerto Vallarta), or Culiacan, Sinaloa, Durango, Tamaulipas or other affected areas which are also far from away from tourist areas.

It's like saying don't visit the Jersey shore because people get murdered in Newark, where the year-to-date total of murders is 29. Or don't visit San Francisco because of the murder rate in Oakland (36 so far this year). But these troubled areas are all CLOSER to these tourist areas than we are talking about in Mexico.

Be specific, and use examples to help US and Canadian residents to understand that Mexico is a big country, confronting problems which are primarily fueled by the flow of money and arms from the US in exchange for drugs used by American citizens.

We are all in this war together. If North Americans stop visiting Mexico tourist areas, we are are only contributing to further decay of Mexican society by staunching the flow of legitimate tourist dollars to legitimate businesses and honest Mexican workers.

Be a Safe Tourist

In my experience as a hotel owner, Puerto Vallarta's historical extreme safety is in fact the cause of the few problems tourists do encounter, because they throw caution to the wind. As in many US cities with economic problems, the bad economy and lower tourism caused by the fear of drug violence, has resulted in an increase in non-violent petty crime.

As in any city, tourists need to use reasonable precautions including the following for a safe visit:

1. Do not go out with unnecessary jewelry, cash, credit cards or valuables. Take only what you need and keep the rest locked in a secure hotel safe.

2. Do not invite strangers to your room, especially when you do not know the person, are alone, and if your valuables are not secured. If you must, register guests at your hotel or condo, and/or ask for and take photo copies of IDs. Escort the individual off the premises, don't let them wander among other rooms or condos and put others at risk.

3. When you go out at night, bring only your ID and the necessary cash, not a wallet full of cash and credit cards ripe for pickpocketing in your back pocket. Don't flash your money around. Don't leave cameras or wallets out and unattended.

4. When you go out late at night, or return home late at night, take a taxi regardless of the distance to your lodgings. Ask the establishment you are in to note the number of the taxi, and you should note it in case of any problems or lost items. Do not walk home late at night, inebriated, in dark areas with uneven sidewalks and expect good things to happen. You wouldn't do this at home, where you know your surroundings, so don't do it when you travel and are unfamiliar with the language, customs and laws. Don't use or carry drugs on the street, be drunk in public, urinate on the streets or otherwise break the law as in any other city.

If everyone uses these reasonable safety precautions they will find Puerto Vallarta a safe and welcoming destination. It is remarkably free of violent crime, warmly embracing visitors and providing a memorable and fun and safe vacation for all.

Don Pickens is a Puerto Vallarta resident and owner of Casa Cupula, one of the world's finest boutique resort hotels for gay men, lesbians and friends. Since 2002 Casa Cupula has built a reputation for services and luxury equal to any mainstream 5 star resort. For more information visit CasaCupula.com or call 866-352-2511.