Americans Flocked to Cancún for Vacation. Now They’re Thinking Twice.

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International Trade Administration. Hotels and airlines say they also have noticed occasional drops in demand. “I’m kind of Mexico-ed out," says Khayla Morris, a 28-year-old content creator from Charlotte, N.C.

Morris traveled to Cancún with her sisters in May 2022, and went in 2017 and 2018. Travel companies that operate in the Cancún region are lowering prices in the short term, and airfare has also dropped compared with last year as air carriers have bet on the long term and increased routes. Looking elsewhere Executives from Spirit Airlines and Playa Hotels and Resorts said in recent earnings calls that demand for Cancún and the surrounding region has fluctuated in recent months.

Ryan Hymel, Playa’s chief financial officer, said during the company’s earnings call this is due to “destination fatigue." Mexico was the place to be in 2021 and 2022, but became less of a priority as people could travel to Europe or other Caribbean spots, he said on the call. Playa CEO Bruce Wardinski said travelers have many options in the high season. U.S.

travelers still love Mexico. The tourism board for Quintana Roo, the Mexican state that is home to Cancún and the Riviera Maya, says U.S. visitor numbers for the region were up about 12% from January to June, compared with the first six months of 2019.

That means the spring figures represent a slowdown in pandemic-era growth, not a decrease in the U.S. visitor market, the tourism board says. U.S.

nonstop passenger numbers to Cancún picked back up in June and July, exceeding those from the year prior, International Trade Administration data shows. Many U.S. tourists chose Mexico early in the pandemic.