Tulum International Airport and Maya Train as the key to connecting tourism in the Yucatán Peninsula

Tulum is a little town that keeps gaining lots of attention due to the incredible turquoise water beaches and a hundred activities to get in contact with nature. Even though it is very popular, there is no direct access, so you must first get to the Cancun International Airport and then move using any of the different transportation options in a trip that takes about an hour and a half driving. 

However, traveling to Tulum will be easier with the new international airport that is planned to be finished by 2023 and the Mayan Train that runs through the whole Yucatán peninsula expected to start operating sometime in 2023. 

 

Tulum International Airport

The upcoming Tulum international airport is expected to be open by the end of 2023 and become the fourth airport in Quintana Roo, along with Cancun, Chetumal and Cozumel. 

The plans for the airport are not new since they began about a decade ago but were never realized because Tulum hadn't had the grown and popularity that it has nowadays. Tulum was once a fishing village that now has more than 45,000 residents and receives more than 2 million tourists per year looking for the electric lifestyle, white sand beaches and ecotourism. 

Mayan Train

Maya Train is one of the main projects of the actual Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador that began construction in 2021and is expected to be completed by 2023. 

The project was first announced in 2018 with a cost estimated in USD 7.4 billion. The 120 kilometers route was designed to provide a transportation network across the Yucatán Peninsula to connect the most popular destinations of the Riviera Maya and beyond and facilitate the accessibility of tourists, passengers and cargo.  Mayan Train runs through five states in the southeast of Mexico, with 21 stations and 14 stops along the way:

Chiapas

Stations: Palenque

Tabasco

Stations: Boca del Cerro, El Triunfo 

Stops: Tenosique, Candelaria.

Campeche

Stations: Escárcega, Edzná, San Francisco de Campeche, Xpujil

Stops: Carrillo Puerto, Tenabo, Hecelchakán, Calkiní, Conhuas, Centenario

Yucatán

Stations: Mérida Airport, Teya, Izamal, Chichen Itzá, Valladolid

Stops: Maxcanú, Tixkokob. Xibalbá, Leona Vicario

Quintana Roo

Stations: Nuevo Xcán, Cancún Airport, Puerto Morelos, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, Tulum Airport, Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Bacalar, Chetumal, 

Stops: Xcaret, Puerto Aventuras, Akumal, Limones, Othón P. Blanco
 

The south of Mexico remains as the favorite destination for millions of visitors due to the incredible beaches, exclusive hotels and tourist attractions, so it is not rare to get new flight connections between the United States and Europe in the incoming years. That means Cancun keeps attracting worldwide tourism, more than other popular destinations in Mexico like Los Cabos or Puerto Vallarta.