40 Quintana Roo Communities to Become ‘Kilich Kab: Mundo Sagrado’ Tourism Zone

Kantunilkín, Quintana Roo — Forty communities in the municipalities of Playa del Carmen and Lázaro Cárdenas will be recognized as a rural community tourism zone under the brand name “Kilich Kab: Mundo Sagrado,” after meeting federal and state tourism requirements.

Municipal presidents Estefanía Mercado Asencio of Playa del Carmen and Josué Nivardo Mena Villanueva of Lázaro Cárdenas, along with representatives of the 40 communities, submitted the formal request to Bernardo Cueto Riestra, Quintana Roo’s tourism secretary, for the territory to be legally designated as a Rural Community Zone with Tourist Potential.

The request was presented in the community of Pacchén, where residents have spent more than 20 years protecting the jungle and water resources in the northern part of the state. José María Quintal Olivar handed over the document on behalf of all the communities as part of the Tourism Development Program required for the designation.

The initiative, supported by the French Development Agency (AFD), the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the Technological University of Cancún, the state Tourism Secretariat and the Lázaro Cárdenas municipal government, brings together Mayan communities under the name “Red Comunitaria de Empresas Regenerativas Kiilich Kab” to promote ecotourism, cultural tourism and community-based tourism.

The new biocultural corridor spans more than 400,000 hectares and connects the protected natural areas of Yum Balam, Otoch Ma’ax Yetel Kooh and Felipe Carrillo Puerto. It safeguards the peninsula’s main groundwater recharge zone and maintains habitat corridors for species such as the jaguar, spider monkey and hundreds of bird species.

Visitors will be able to experience Mayan culture through daily milpa farming, traditional beekeeping, melipona bee conservation, artisanal production and regenerative tourism, with services provided directly by local families. The communities received technical support from the civil organization Kanché AC, represented by Liliana García Ramírez.

Officials said the designation aligns with global growth in nature and regenerative tourism, and will help diversify Quintana Roo’s tourism offerings, spread benefits to inland communities and demonstrate that development can restore the jungle while bringing direct economic gains to rural families. The request is based on state tourism law and the communities’ right to participate in decisions affecting their territory.