U.S. Consul General Meets with Tulum Councilman to Discuss Security and Tourism

Tulum, Quintana Roo — Justen A. Thomas, the U.S. Consul General for the Yucatan Peninsula, met with Tulum councilman Eugenio Barbachano on Wednesday evening to discuss security concerns and the decline in American visitors to the Mexican Caribbean, according to unofficial sources.

The informal meeting, held without official protocol, addressed structural challenges facing the state, including the perception of insecurity that has been reflected in U.S. travel advisories and headlines. Sources close to the discussion said the agenda also covered Tulum’s image crisis, sargassum management, the operation of Tulum National Park, abuses against tourists and the shift in international narrative from “boho-chic paradise” to “cautionary tale.”

The two also discussed the drop in U.S. visitors to the Mexican Caribbean over the past two years and the growing appeal of competing destinations such as the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica.

Barbachano stressed the urgency of rebuilding the relationship with the U.S. market, arguing that security, legal certainty and visitor experience require concrete actions rather than “empty marketing campaigns,” according to people familiar with the meeting.

Thomas’s visit comes as business groups have repeatedly called on authorities to maintain and strengthen U.S. demand for Quintana Roo’s main tourist destinations, in a year marked by falling visitor numbers and massive arrivals of sargassum.