The peak fall and winter holiday travel season is nearly here, and travelers are busy making their reservations for the upcoming vacation season.
Not surprisingly, when the leaves start to fall from the trees and the weather starts to cool down, tourists focus their thoughts further south towards warmer weather and sunny coastal beaches.
Traditionally that leads travelers dreaming of a tropical vacation getaway to Mexico, and early indications show that Cancun and the Mexican Caribbean should be anticipating a busy travel season this year.
United Airlines Search Data
According to a statement from United Airlines, four of the top five most searched destinations on United.com for travel from November 1 to March 31 are located in the United States. These destinations include warmer weather favorites like Miami, Orlando, Honolulu and Las Vegas.
Only one of the top five searched destinations for the fall and winter holiday season was international. What international hotspot cracked the top five searches for flights on United.com? Cancun, of course.
Popularity Increasing for the Mexican Caribbean
There are number of exciting developments happening in Cancun and the Mexican Caribbean that are getting visitors excited about a fall and winter holiday vacation getaway to the area.
The Maya Train project has travelers excited about visiting the region because it will provide additional convenient access to parts of the Mexican Caribbean that have been a challenge to reach without a bus or taxi ride to get there.
Cancun is at one of the major crossroads of the Maya Train project as it will connect areas such as the emerging hotspot of Merida with destinations in the Mexican Caribbean south of Cancun such as Chetumal, Bacalar, Puerto Morelos and even Tulum.
Speaking of Tulum, it is about to become a major destination in the area with the opening of the brand-new Tulum International Airport next month.
Now, travelers should not get too excited about this alternative to Cancun International Airport quite yet. It will only be available for domestic flights when it opens in December and will require international visitors to make a connection to get to Tulum, most likely in Mexico City.
However, Delta Airlines announced on October 13 that it will be the first airline from the United States to have direct non-stop flights. They will start from Atlanta on March 28, 2024.
Ultra low cost carrier Spirit Airlines later in the month also announced daily service to Tulum from both Orlando (MCO) and Fort Lauderdale (FLL) starting on March 28, 2024.
Other airlines have announced increased numbers of flights between the United States and Cancun International Airport as well for the upcoming peak fall and winter travel season.
Tips For Travelers
The old travel adage to book early is the key recommendation for this year.
Travelers looking to visit Cancun and the Mexican Caribbean in the next couple of months hopefully have already booked their flights and reserved their preferred resort or hotel.
For those that have not yet made their vacation getaway plans, the costs have already started to climb and the availability of the best times for flights as well as rooms at the preferred resorts and hotels are becoming limited.
Visitors should not expect there to be many deals as the holiday season approaches. This will especially be the case with some of the top resorts and hotels that line some of the best beaches in Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Isla Mujeres and Tulum.
However, there may be some last-minute deals for vacation rental properties in Tulum due to the large number of available rentals in that area.