Despite reports, Nuevo Progreso seeing upturn in tourism

NUEVO PROGRESO — A bar tucked away on the west side of Calle Benito Juárez served as the center point for Winter Texan trinket shopping in this small border town.

A man squabbled with a shoe shiner as he walked up to the bar to order a beer. The smoke floated from his cigarette.

A woman walked up to him a few minutes later to show off her merchandise. After a few sips and cigarette puffs, the couple wandered back to the vendors’ row along the town’s main drag.

Despite reports of escalating violence on the Mexican border, the small town of Nuevo Progreso appeared to be thriving this past week.

Sidewalks were not choked with pedestrians, a common scene on busy weekends. But, still, it was a sizeable crowd.

The patio at the Old Town Restaurant was packed with relaxed tourists soaking in the cool Wednesday afternoon air.

Two lines formed outside the U.S. Customs and Border Protection checkpoint for people returning to the United States. A Winter Texan from Arkansas said it was a typical line for a comfortable weekday outside.

"I thought it was going to be more packed after the weather was so bad yesterday," she said on Wednesday.

Travelers shopping at the local markets Wednesday said they were not concerned for their safety, even though the U.S. State Department reissued a travel alert on Monday for citizens traveling to Mexico.

On Friday, most Winter Texans interviewed for this story said they had their minds made up regarding travel to Nuevo Progreso prior to recent reports of gun battles along the border.

Some of the Winter Texans interviewed said on Friday that they will not travel to Mexico because of the violence, but they made that decision two years ago.

Concern is for travelers to Matamoros and Reynosa, several Nuevo Progreso tourists said this past week. Reports of gunfights, kidnappings and killings came from those cities — as well as Valle Hermoso, Ciudad Mier and Miguel Alemán, which are located south of Los Indios, Zapata County and Roma, respectively. Those reports accompanied rumors of Los Zetas staging a coup for control of Reynosa.

Los Zetas were once the armed enforcement wing of the Gulf Cartel. But U.S. federal officials say they believe the two groups now work independently. Control over Reynosa would solidify one of the busiest and most important transport routes for drugs bound for the United States, U.S. officials say.

Although Nuevo Progreso does not have the notoriety of those other Mexican cities, this much smaller town did have one recent brush with violence.

Gunmen in a pickup truck entered the city from the south about 2 p.m. on Dec. 5, Mexican officials said. The gunfight between those men and the Mexican army spilled into the main streets of Nuevo Progreso, sending hundreds of visitors enjoying the annual "Welcome Back Winter Texan Fiesta" fleeing into buildings for cover.

There were no U.S. casualties in the shooting, but Mexican officials refused to release further details on the incident. Witnesses reported at least two fatalities.

How that incident affected Nuevo Progreso’s economy can be difficult to determine, as comments from local business officials did not match border-crossing statistics.

Most business owners said they have prospered over the past few months, noticing little effect from the Dec. 5 shooting.

While an average of 940 fewer tourists per day in December 2009 compared to December 2008 may seem like it should be a massive drop-off, it really was just a continuation of a six-month trend.

Border crossings were down in 2009 compared to 2008 for each month since May, according to CBP records. Crossings bottomed out in June when 25,099 fewer people crossed the Progreso bridge than in June of the previous year — a 42 percent decrease. Since June, the decrease has been at least 24 percent worse than 2008.

That may be a result of the new passport laws that went into effect in June.

But Dr. Jesus Alfredo, a Nuevo Progreso physician, suggested that the 2009 outbreak of swine flu could have deterred tourists.

With the passing of the swine flu scare, January and February have been the first stable months for tourism here since the passport laws changed in June, Alfredo said.

Hugo Ramirez, an employee at one of the town’s 10 Azteca Pharmacies, agreed with Alfredo. Ramirez said in Spanish that business has been normal the past two months.

Most of the violence has been in Reynosa, Ramirez said. So he has noticed a normal flow of Winter Texan traffic in the pharmacy.

Border crossing reports for the past three years show an increase during months when Winter Texans are in the Rio Grande Valley, according to CBP records.

A typical winter means 77 percent of Winter Texans visit Mexico, spending an average of $78 per day trip, according to the 2008 University of Texas-Pan American Winter Texan survey.

Nuevo Progreso’s many restaurants, trinket shops, vendors selling authentic Mexican clothing and pottery, pharmacies and dental clinics have attracted Winter Texans like Norm Pankow for years.

Pankow, an Illinois native, said he and his wife were regular travelers to Nuevo Progreso. But the 13-year Winter Texan said that ended this year.

"You don’t want to get caught in the crossfire," Pankow said.

But a group of Winter Texans who reside at the Sunshine RV Park in Harlingen disagreed.

One of the most avid Mexico travelers in that group of about seven Winter Texans, all of whom visit Nuevo Progreso about three times a month, was Pat Score.

"We like to get our medicine over there," said Score, who has regularly visited Mexico for more than 26 years. "And we always stop at the Red Panty (bar) when we go over there."

Staff reporters from The Monitor in McAllen and The Brownsville Herald contributed to this report.