The Riviera Maya has been recognized as the best destination in Mexico by Travel Weekly‘s 16th annual Readers Choice Awards.

The Quintana Roo destination saw four other strong contenders in the best destination in Mexico category: Cancún, Cozumel, Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta.

Travel Weekly described the winner as “home to sprawling all-inclusive resorts. Playa del Carmen serves as the starting point for tours, trips to the Mayan ruins at Chichén Itzá and Tulum and visits to Mexico’s [cenotes] underground rivers and springs.”

The director of the Quintana Roo Tourist Promotion Council, Darío Flota Ocampo, attended the black-tie gala dinner and award ceremony held in New York.

The win, said Flota, “belongs to all the entrepreneurs, workers and service providers who with their daily effort make the Riviera Maya the best destination in Mexico . . . ”

The destination’s success, he continued, is also the result of the collaboration between the members of the industry and the state government in promoting it in tourist forums, fairs and other events, as well as in containing the effects of negative travel warnings.

The council says the Mexican Caribbean as a whole received more than 1.6 million visitors — and over US $1.7 billion — during the last summer vacation period.

Source: 20 minutos (sp), Travel Weekly (en)