Quintana Roo maintained its position as one of Mexico’s most popular tourist destinations with a reported 1.87 million overnight visitors during summer vacation, a figure up 3.9% from last year.

Cancún was by far the most popular destination, receiving 613,193 of the state’s 1,877,546 summer visitors – a 6.1% increase from 2022 – according to data from the state Tourism Ministry (Sedetur).

Other key destinations included the Riviera Maya with 397,384 visitors (up 0.3%), including Playa del Carmen with 172,259 (up 3.4%) and Tulum with 167,055 (up 0.8%).

Notable increases were also seen in Costa Mujeres (up 6.1% to 102,997 visitors), state capital Chetumal (up 9.7% to 101,236), Puerto Morelos (up 5.6% to 92,611), Holbox (up 5.3% to 49,832), Isla Mujeres (up 4.9% to 27,085) and Bacalar (up 7.7% to 22,899).

“We are growing and what we seek is to generate shared prosperity and that tourism success is reflected in well-being for the people of Quintana Roo,” said state Governor Mara Lezama, who stressed that tourists are drawn to the state’s sun, beaches, ecology, gastronomy and high-quality services.

Quintana Roo is also Mexico’s leading cruise ship destination, with over 2.7 million cruise passengers visiting the state in the first eight months of the year. The majority arrived in the Caribbean island of Cozumel, which saw a 74% jump in arrivals between the first half of 2022 and the same period of 2023. 

The rise in visitors shows that Quintana Roo is playing an important role in the recovery of Mexico’s tourism industry after the COVID-19 pandemic. In March, Tourism Minister Miguel Torruco predicted that Mexico would receive up to 40 million tourists in 2023, up 2.7% from 2022, although still 12.6% short of the 45 million record set in 2019.

International tourism in Mexico dropped by nearly half in the pandemic year of 2020, but has recovered steadily since then. Cancún airport accounts for the vast majority of international tourist arrivals – 1.64 million in the first two months of 2023, compared to just 670,000 in Mexico City.

Quintana Roo’s tourism industry is also set to benefit from the Maya Train – the new 1,554-kilometer railroad loop on the Yucatán Peninsula, set to open on Dec. 1 – and the opening of a new international airport in Tulum, also anticipated to begin operations at the end of this year.

With reports from La Jornada Maya and El Economista