Costa Mujeres: Luxury Boom, Crumbling Roads

CANCÚN, Q. ROO — Costa Mujeres, situated on the border between Benito Juárez and Isla Mujeres, is emerging as Cancún's second major hotel zone and a potential competitor to the traditional Bulevar Kukulcán. The destination's boom has triggered not only significant tourism investments but also an urgent need for road and urban infrastructure to match the speed of its growth.

The Costa Mujeres Hotel Association has deemed the construction of the Cancún–Isla Blanca tourist corridor a priority. The 25-kilometer project is intended to connect the zone with the urban sprawl. The executive director of the association, Marissa Setién, reported that the project is in an advanced stage of technical studies, though pending issues regarding right-of-way towards Isla Blanca remain.

“We know they are very advanced; a part is already finished regarding the studies. They are working up to the area that reaches Isla Blanca, which is the only pending part,” she explained.

Meanwhile, the Bonampak extension and part of the boulevard connecting the area show evident sinking and deterioration. High-spending tourists—the predominant profile at the five-star resorts operating in Costa Mujeres—have already expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of dignified access, a situation that contrasts with the quality of the hotel services.

A Three Billion Peso Project

According to the Secretary of Sustainable Urban Territorial Development (SEDETUS), the project involves an investment of three billion pesos to build a boulevard with two lanes per direction, sidewalks, public lighting, storm drainage, a bike lane, and bus stops. The plan is for comprehensive infrastructure catering to tourists, workers, and surrounding communities.

Accelerated Growth

Costa Mujeres is projected to close this year with approximately 12,000 hotel rooms, but long-term plans foresee up to 25,000 rooms in the continental strip of Isla Mujeres. If realized, the zone would match the scale of Cancún's own Hotel Zone, whose Bulevar Kukulcán measures between 25 and 26 kilometers and concentrates the majority of the state's tourism offerings.

The demand is evident: Cancún International Airport moved a record 39.9 million passengers in 2023. In the first quarter of 2025, it added over 5 million travelers, and although international arrivals receded 6.8 percent in the first five months of the year, hotel occupancy in Cancún, Isla Mujeres, and Puerto Morelos remains at levels close to 80 percent during high seasons.

The Challenge of Orderly Planning

SEDETUS warns that the state's demographic growth rate of 3.5 percent annually—more than double the national average—is putting pressure on planning in Costa Mujeres. The housing deficit for workers in the tourism sector is already a latent problem: for every hotel room, an estimated 1.5 to 2 direct jobs are created, which could attract up to 200,000 new inhabitants in need of housing, mobility, and public services.

The president of the Association of Real Estate Developers, Miguel Ángel Lemus, acknowledged that thousands of workers must travel long distances daily to reach their workplaces, reflecting the lack of a comprehensive connectivity plan.

“This is a priority planning matter that SEDETUS must undertake to guide and regulate the growth of that zone; it has to be for the medium term,” he stated.

A Second Hotel Zone

The projection of Costa Mujeres as a new high-end tourism hub is no longer a promise: it is an expanding reality that threatens to become the main competition for Cancún's Hotel Zone. However, its consolidation will depend on the government and private sector's ability to coordinate investments in urban infrastructure, mobility, housing, and public services.

“We know this is a high-end destination, and visitors have made comments about the condition of the roadways,” reiterated Marissa Setién.

The challenge is clear: if Costa Mujeres wants to establish itself as the new tourism jewel of the Mexican Caribbean, it needs modern roads, orderly planning, and dignified access worthy of its luxury hotels. Otherwise, it risks having its accelerated growth halted by the same urban problems that plague Cancún.