President Claudia Shenbaum traveled to Quintana Roo Thursday evening for a weekend trip focused on reviving Tulum’s tourism industry, tackling a sargassum seaweed crisis that has fouled the region’s beaches and mediating a dispute over entrance fees at Jaguar National Park.
She gave her Friday press conference from the troubled tourist hotspot, which has seen a slump in tourism over the past year, amid elevated levels of violence last year and massive arrivals of sargassum.
Estamos en Tulum, Quintana Roo. Mañana daremos noticias en la mañanera. pic.twitter.com/DvzJoavKkQ
— Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (@Claudiashein) July 17, 2026
At the conference, Tourism Minister Josefina Rodríguez unveiled new measures as part of the Tulum Reborn plan. The tourism plan, launched last November, seeks to kick-start the region’s declining visitation numbers. The new strategies include offering free entry to Jaguar National Park for Mexicans, reduced archaeological site fees, a new public transport system and a program to attract more flights to Tulum International Airport.
Security officials reported a sharp decrease in homicides in the state, and a landmark two months without any homicides reported in Tulum.
Meanwhile, President Sheinbaum and Quintana Roo Gov. Mara Lezama highlighted government efforts to combat the influx of sargassum, which has covered the region’s white sand beaches with stinky seaweed and turned the usually crystaline waters a muddy brown.
On Thursday, Environment Minister Alicia Bárcena said 9,000 tonnes of sargassum are currently reaching Quintana Roo beaches every day.
Sheinbaum is expected to announce a detailed plan to tackle the issue on Saturday. She suggested the solution will involve “fishing out the sargassum at sea” and recycling it.
Collecting the seaweed in the ocean is preferred because once the clumps of brown algae reach the beaches, it begins to rot, generating toxic hydrogen sulfide.
Sheinbaum will also attempt to mediate between hotel owners, merchants and tourism promoters who have expressed dissatisfaction with Jaguar National Park — part of a 2,900-hectare nature reserve and recreational area within the Tulum Archaeological Zone.
Since opening in September 2024, the park has been a source of controversy due to high entry fees and because it has restricted access to some of the area’s most popular public beaches.
Mexico launches ‘Tulum Reborn’ strategy to tackle slump in tourism
Critics say the high fees have contributed to a drop in tourism, prompting petitions to rescind fees and separate the national park from the Tulum Archaeological Zone.
Sheinbaum said she will do her best to resolve the situation.
“We are going to see exactly what is happening … we are going to talk to the hotels, with merchants … and figure out how to settle this,” she said.
With reports from La Jornada and El Universal
