Maya Community Wins 2025 Tourism Award

Cancún, Mexico — Governor Mara Lezama Espinosa presented the 2025 State Tourism Award to the community-based enterprise Community Tours Sian Ka’an during an event held at this world-class tourist destination. The award was received by the organization's president, Alberto Cen Caamal.

“I am deeply moved to share this space with you to recognize the great work of Community Tours Sian Ka’an, a community enterprise that has made tourism a tool for social and environmental transformation,” stated Mara Lezama.

According to an official statement, the award carries profound significance: it is a statuette of the Goddess Ixchel, meticulously crafted by the hands of artisan José Chale, a native of Kantunilkín. This piece not only symbolizes the grandeur of the living Maya Culture but also represents the link between ancestral roots and the sustainable tourism development being implemented.

In the presence of representatives from various sectors of Quintana Roo's tourism industry and the State Tourism Advisory Council, the head of the executive branch asserted that this State Tourism Award was created to highlight the best of the sector, “but above all to remind us that tourism has a human face, that its true strength lies in the smile and well-being of those who make it possible.”

The governor emphasized that the women and men who make up Community Tours Sian Ka’an demonstrate that it is possible to innovate from one's own heritage, that integrating pitahaya cultivation with tourism experiences is not an experiment, and that preserving traditions and customs across generations and sharing them with the world is an act of cultural pride.

In her address, the governor revealed that this model of regenerative tourism has inspired other communities, which are now developing their own projects within the state, the country, and other parts of the world. “We are not talking about passive spectators, but about protagonists who, through tourism activity, defend their land, their culture, and their right to prosper,” she said.

In this regard, the Secretary of Tourism, Bernardo Cueto Riestra, stated that this result once again confirms that Quintana Roo is transforming with a New Era of Tourism, driven by Governor Mara Lezama's efforts to bring shared prosperity to Maya communities. This work has allowed Quintana Roo to be recognized nationally and globally for its work in community tourism, with clear sustainability objectives that will be measured by the Universidad Anáhuac, represented by its rector, Yoani Rodríguez.

The president of Community Tours Sian Ka’an, Alberto Cen Caamal, expressed gratitude for the award, which recognizes 25 years of work by Maya families who have inhabited Sian Ka’an for generations, a place whose name means “where the sky is born.” He acknowledged tourism as an engine for regeneration and a force for achieving a dignified life.

The call for entries for the State Tourism Award was disseminated through social media and the official website of the Secretary of Tourism. A total of 31 proposals were received, of which 27 met all the established requirements. The evaluation was conducted by members of the Tourism Advisory Council, who unanimously determined Community Tours Sian Ka’an as the deserving recipient of the award.

Furthermore, during the ceremony, recognition was given to allied institutions that have contributed to the promotion of sustainable tourism development in Quintana Roo, divided into three strategic blocks: in the competitiveness segment, the companies SUSTENTUR and ECPAT were recognized; in the gastronomic segment, recognition went to the Universidad del Caribe, Hotel Fairmont Mayakoba, the Municipality of Bacalar, LIVEK, CANIRAC Quintana Roo, Hotel Nizuc, Airbnb, and Grupo Xcaret; and in the third block for dissemination, the companies Mobility ADO and the Cancún International Airport received recognition.

During the award ceremony, the Rector of the Universidad Anáhuac Cancún, Yoani Rodríguez, presented the introduction of the Study on Tourism and Shared Prosperity in Quintana Roo, while the Director of the Center for Advanced Research in Sustainable Tourism at the same university, Francisco Madrid Flores, presented the aforementioned study.

The event was attended by the honorary president of DIF Quintana Roo, Verónica Lezama Espinosa; the municipal president of Benito Juárez, Ana Paty Peralta de la Peña; the deputy Alicia Euterpe Gutiérrez Valasis; the municipal presidents of Isla Mujeres, Atenea Gómez Ricalde; Playa del Carmen, Estefanía Mercado; Puerto Morelos, Blanca Merari Tziu; Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Mary Hernández; the presidents of José María Morelos, Erik Borges Yam, and of Bacalar, José Alfredo Contreras Méndez; and Senator Eugenio Segura.