One year after beginning operations, the Maya Train hotels are operating with occupancy levels far below national tourism industry standards. In a context where average hotel occupancy in Mexico is around 60%, the Tulum, Nuevo Uxmal, and Tulum Airport complexes failed to reach even 5% of their capacity.
Since their inauguration, the seven hotels—operated by Grupo Mundo Maya—have received a total of 60,038 guests, according to an information request obtained by La Silla Rota.
The hotel with the largest capacity is the Tulum complex, which can accommodate up to 996 guests. It is followed by the Edzná, Chichén Itzá, Nuevo Uxmal, and Palenque hotels, each with capacity for 420 guests; Calakmul with 372 guests; and Tulum Airport with 324 guests. This amounts to a total capacity of 3,372 guests.
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Five of the hotels began operations in December 2024, while Nuevo Uxmal opened in February 2025 and Palenque followed in April.
The lowest-performing hotel was Nuevo Uxmal in Yucatán, with a total of 3,243 guests since its opening in February of last year, representing an average occupancy rate of 2.8%. In its opening month alone, it reported just 48 visitors, and its highest point came in September with 1,283 guests. However, in October occupancy fell to 270.
Despite being the largest hotel in the chain, Tulum was also among those with the lowest occupancy. According to the data obtained, it received 11,341 guests over 11 months—an average of 1,031 visitors per month—representing just 3.3% of its capacity. This complex, located south of the Riviera Maya within the Jaguar Park, is situated in a strategic area due to nearby archaeological zones; however, compared to the other hotels, its occupancy has been lower.
Another low-traffic complex was Tulum Airport, which registered 3,532 guests, an average occupancy rate of 3.2%. The hotel, located near Felipe Carrillo Puerto International Airport, averaged 321 guests per month. It is followed by the Edzná hotel in Quintana Roo with 6,268 guests, and Chichén Itzá in Campeche with 8,196 guests. In contrast, the Calakmul Hotel in Quintana Roo recorded 11,016 visitors during the same period, averaging 1,001 guests per month. The best performance was seen at the Palenque Hotel in Chiapas, which was the last to begin operations in April and received 16,442 guests over seven months, averaging 2,349 visitors per month.
Additionally, its capacity is half that of Tulum, the largest complex. On its website, the hotel promotes itself as being “in an exclusive area, 1.5 kilometers from the Palenque archaeological zone, considered one of the most important sites of the Maya culture.”
On December 4, Óscar David Lozano Águila, director general of the Maya Train, acknowledged that July and August were the months with the highest visitor numbers, with 9,397 and 10,568 guests, respectively.
The four-star hotels offer services such as a spa, temazcal, swimming pool, gym, television, Wi-Fi, air conditioning, parking, room service, bicycle rentals, bar, restaurant, children’s play area, and souvenir shops, according to information on their website.
Millions Spent on Promotion
The tourism complex is operated by the Olmeca-Maya-Mexica Airport, Railway, Auxiliary Services and Related Services Group (GAFSACOMM), under the control of the Ministry of National Defense (Sedena). This entity also oversees the operation of the Maya Train, 12 airports, parks, museums, and fuel stations.
During 2025, Sedena spent 73.9 million pesos on designing an advertising strategy and promoting its services across various media outlets, according to contracts awarded during that period.
“Due to the low number of room reservations during the winter holiday season (2024) at the Maya Train Tulum Hotel, it was identified that the established objectives and projected economic revenues since the hotel’s opening were not met, as some processes have not yet been fully consolidated,” the state-owned entity acknowledged.
For the summer vacation season of 2025, the government launched 10 Mundo Maya tourism packages, priced from 17,031 pesos for four nights and 24,831 pesos for six nights. These packages included round-trip flights, ground transportation on the Maya Train, and other activities among the services offered by Grupo Mundo Maya.
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