Playa del Carmen’s New Sustainable Tourism Model

Playa del Carmen, Mexico — With the goal of moving beyond the traditional tourism model, municipal authorities from Playa del Carmen presented a new proposal at the 2026 International Tourism Fair (FITUR), leaving behind the traditional ‘sun and beach’ scheme and advancing toward sustainable, community-based, and inclusive tourism.

Playa del Carmen Mayor Estefanía Mercado Ascencio seeks to attract the European population through sustainability and community tourism projects, showcasing her municipality as the Caribbean Capital of Premium & Ancestral Wellness Tourism.

Fabiana Briseño, leader of the delegation that traveled to the European country, presented the new offer to diversify the tourism offerings so that economic spillover does not remain solely in sun and beach services, but so that visitors explore the entire cultural, environmental, artisanal, etc., offering, thereby directly benefiting local communities, artisans, and producers in the region.

Under the guiding motto “From ‘all inclusive’ to ‘all included’,” it indicates that among the flagship projects are: The Cenote Corridor: The Honey and Jungle Route: A circuit of community-based and agroecological tourism.

“Playa del Carmen is authentic Mexico, where daily life coexists with the visitor,” said Fabiana Briseño, leader of the destination’s delegation at FITUR.

The strategy is part of Mayor Estefanía Mercado’s vision, who has bet on repositioning Playa del Carmen as a high-value-added destination, focused on integral well-being, cultural identity, and respect for the natural environment, without sacrificing international competitiveness.

With the new redesign, the aim is to attract European investors, who are willing to immerse themselves in the adventure of creating unique experiences, beyond classic tourism.

Currently, Playa del Carmen has a solid infrastructure of over 45,000 hotel rooms; its growth bet for the coming years focuses on high-value segments such as wellness, conferences, and sports tourism, always under a circular economy scheme and respect for the environment.

The proposal presented at FITUR 2026 profiles the destination as a cosmopolitan space that combines the beauty of the Mexican Caribbean with a solid urban, cultural, and gastronomic offering, moving away from exclusive tourism models and betting on regenerative tourism, where the visitor becomes an ally of social and environmental well-being.

With this strategy, Playa del Carmen seeks to consolidate itself globally as a benchmark in premium experiences with ancestral roots, demonstrating that tourism can be an engine of development without losing identity. The bet is clear: a model that not only generates income but dignifies communities and builds long-term future.