Travellers can check the Government of Canada website for travel advisories before booking an overseas vacation. (Image Credit: BrianAJackson /Depositphotos.com)

By Marjia Robinson/CKOM

Travel Plans

Planning a vacation? CAA says Mexico OK, Middle East a no-go

Mar 8, 2026 | 3:32 PM

After weeks filled with global conflicts, travellers may be rethinking their vacations — but whether they should reschedule or not depends on the destination.

It has been two weeks since tourists in areas of Mexico were put under a shelter-in-place order due to cartel violence, including in the coastal city of Puerto Vallarta.

Terry Kaszas, general manager of travel services at CAA Saskatchewan, said everything is “back to business as usual,” after the brief interruption.

While the conflict was scary for everyone at the start, “because nobody knew what was happening,” Kaszas said the disruptions only lasted for two days.

During that short period there were flight cancellations and new bookings, but overall the change was minimal, according to Kaszas.

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He couldn’t say whether visiting Puerto Vallarta would now be 100 per cent safe, but that’s not unique to the Mexican city.

“There’s always questions with anywhere that you go. I mean, the same thing can happen, you know, different situations in Toronto or Calgary, right?” Kaszas said.

People should continue travelling to Mexico, but stay aware and “be prepared for anything,” he said.

On Sunday, the Government of Canada travel advisory website said Canadians should “exercise a high degree of caution in Mexico due to high levels of criminal activity and kidnapping.”

The Canadian government says travellers to Mexico should exercise a high degree of caution in the areas marked in yellow and avoid non-essential travel to areas marked in orange. (Image Credit: Government of Canada website)

Middle East travel disrupted

But, that same message doesn’t apply to the Middle East, as the war in Iran enters its second week.

According to Kaszas, people from Saskatchewan typically visit countries like Egypt or Turkey year-round.

Since the conflict, though, he said a lot of tour suppliers and airlines have cancelled their trips for the time being.

A lot of CAA members and clients go to that part of the world for a “bucket-list” vacation, and Kaszas said those who’ve already made bookings for tours just need to be patient.

“Bide your time. Eventually it’ll be back to normal where we can feel safe to travel there and anywhere,” Kaszas said.

In the meantime, he hasn’t heard of anyone from Saskatchewan that’s already in the Middle East and concerned about getting back home.

“We didn’t — from what I’ve seen in reports — have anybody over there. The people that would have been there would have been taken to safety immediately and … gotten safe passage back home or to another area where they’d be safe,” Kaszas said.

On Sunday, the government was advising Canadians to avoid all travel to Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel and Palestine, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen and to avoid non-essential travel to Jordan, Oman and Saudi Arabia.

Also it said the military conflict in the area had caused widespread travel disruptions and most airspace in the Middle East was currently closed or restricted, adding that airlines that would normally transit through Middle East airspace to connect Europe and Asia face significantly longer routes and higher fuel costs.

It warned travel plans may be affected even if the destination is not in the Middle East.

It also warned that many travel insurance policies will not provide coverage for people who travel to regions where the Government of Canada has issued a travel advisory to “avoid all non-essential travel” or “avoid all travel.”

— with files from CKOM News