The beach club at the Ikal Hotel in the Mexican resort town of Tulum is getting ready for its ecstatic dance session. A sweaty crowd bops to a track spun by a DJ whose next stop is Berlin. A group of thirtysomethings smack volleyballs on a beach that smells of seaweed and sunscreen down a set of stone steps. A room in a treehouse costs $800 a night, and a bottle of mant de Bourgogne sparkling wine costs $110.
A decade ago, the sleepy fishing village of Tulum was a gateway to the nearby ruins. It is part of the international party circuit and is marketed as a jungle paradise with great nightlife. The town's beach strip is lined with tony restaurants, designer clothing boutiques, and chalkboard ads for yoga classes. The kind of place where the hippie become millionaires and the millionaires become hippie is what it is.
CancFA;n is a two-hour drive up the coast and is in the midst of a boom. Airlines have scheduled 20% more seats on flights from the U.S. this year than they did before the Pandemic. Last year, Cancún International Airport had 22 million arrivals. In the past two years, more than 16,000 new hotel rooms have been built in the state of Cancún. The expansion is proof that Mexico is moving up the tourism charts. The country was the seventh most-visited destination in the year of 2019.
The World Tourism Organization.
Unlike almost everywhere else, Mexico never shuts down. Europe and the U.S. required Covid-19 passes and tests, but Mexico was quick to open its doors. Mexico could not afford to close its borders because tourism was such an important driver of the economy. The state lost 97,000 jobs during the Pandemic but by June 2020 hotels were opening up again. While boasting that CancFA;n was back to almost 500 flights a day, the governor said people should keep a safe distance.
It has been a mixed blessing for workers who had to wait tables, scrub toilets, and drive buses or taxis. Mexico's biggest beach destinations were the focus of the news as they suffered from coronavirus spikes. The man says he got the disease while handing out drinks and coffee on the bus.
There are growing concerns about the boom. The area's signature freshwater caverns, called cenotes, as well as the largest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere are at risk due to the increasing number of visitors. Frank Sinatra escaped for a secret birthday, Elizabeth Taylor held her third wedding, and the Shah of Iran's family holed up after the revolution, all in the mid-20th century. Drug crime and rapid growth caused the town to suffer. It is one of the most dangerous places in the country.
The anti-Acapulco was supposed to be Canc. The pristine stretch of sandy beach on the Caribbean coast was designated by the government in the 1960s as its next great resort destination, with specific areas for hotels, homes, and an international airport. Large swaths of land were set aside for preservation, streets and parks were laid out, and contractors installed modern electric and wastewater systems. The Riviera Maya's hinterlands didn't get the same attention as the city's.
In Tulum, only 15% of the buildings are connected to the sewage system, meaning tons of treated waste ends up in the water and on the beach. Many hotels have been forced to use diesel generators because they haven't been connected to the electric grid. Workers from other states build camps on land. It is getting to a state of crisis because it has grown so fast.
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