Playa del Carmen’s Community Tourism Project Wins FITUR Award

Playa del Carmen, Mexico — Playa del Carmen was recognized this Wednesday at the International Tourism Fair (FITUR) 2026 with the Excelencias Turísticas 2025 award, granted by the Grupo Excelencias, for the community tourism project Honey and Jungle Route, an initiative promoted by the municipal government headed by Mayor Estefanía Mercado.

The award was presented during the official ceremony held at the IFEMA Madrid venue. Representing the mayor, businesswoman Fabiana Briseño, who leads the Playa del Carmen delegation at FITUR, received the recognition accompanied by Tourism Secretary Estefanía Hernández; Economic Development and Investment Attraction Secretary Antón Bojórquez; and the general director of the Municipal Institute of Culture and Arts, Ernesto Martínez Cuéllar.

In her remarks, Fabiana Briseño stated that the award recognizes a community tourism model that seeks to transition from the traditional All-Inclusive scheme to one of All-Included, with direct benefits for local honey producers and their families in communities such as Vida y Esperanza, Mezcalitos, and Santa Cecilia. She indicated that this is a project that places rural communities and their active participation in tourism activities at its center.

The businesswoman emphasized that the recognition also brings visibility to populations that for years remained outside the main tourist circuits and are now integrated into a development strategy with a social focus. She added that the award will help position Playa del Carmen in markets in Europe, Latin America, and other regions interested in community, cultural, and sustainable tourism experiences.

The Honey and Jungle Route is a project oriented toward Mayan community tourism, based on low-environmental-impact experiences that integrate ancestral knowledge, jungle conservation, and local productive activities. The initiative takes as its symbol the Xunán Kab, the sacred bee of the Mayan people, and promotes traditional and contemporary beekeeping as an economic and cultural axis of the territory.

During the ceremony, it was highlighted that the Route connects meliponaries and apiaries of the region with areas of living jungle and honey flora, integrating ancestral knowledge and current practices. The project includes local production of honey and derivatives, as well as educational and cultural experiences aimed at visitors, with emphasis on environmental preservation and community strengthening.

The Excelencias Awards aim to promote outstanding projects in the areas of tourism, gastronomy, art, and culture in Ibero-America and the Caribbean. In its twenty-first edition, headed by Grupo Excelencias President José Carlos de Santiago, projects from 30 countries were registered.

During his intervention, José Carlos de Santiago acknowledged Mexico’s broad participation in this edition, noting that it was one of the countries with the highest number of nominations and awarded projects, reflecting the diversity and breadth of proposals presented in the tourism sector.