Tulum won another World Travel Award, and it has nothing to do with sand

Tulum was named the most romantic destination in Mexico and Central America at the 2026 World Travel Awards, repeating the title it won for the first time last year.

Three resorts bearing the town's name won four more titles in the same round, and one of them won two.

The results were announced on October 11 at the awards' Caribbean and the Americas gala, held at the Princess Grand Jamaica in the program's 33rd edition. They close a year in which Tulum's municipal tourism office has been selling the destination to the wedding trade, and they settle which category now carries the town's name. The regional beach title, the one Tulum won three years in a row through 2024, has belonged to Cancún since 2025.

Two editions of the most romantic destination award, both won by Tulum

The published winner list puts Tulum at the top of Mexico and Central America's Most Romantic Destination for 2026, the same category it won in 2025.

The category is young. In the winner lists for 2022, 2023, and 2024, the regional romance award is in the resort category, taken all three years by One&Only Palmilla in Los Cabos, with no destination winner listed beside it. The destination version shows a winner in 2025 and again in 2026, and the name on it is Tulum both times.

The resort versions went elsewhere this year. One&Only Mandarina, on the Nayarit coast, took the regional romantic resort title, and Maroma, A Belmond Hotel, Riviera Maya took Mexico's.

The sand title stayed in Cancún

Tulum held Mexico and Central America's Leading Beach Destination in 2022, 2023, and 2024, and it took Mexico's national beach title in 2022 as well. Cancún has held the regional one ever since.

The national beach category moved the same way. Cozumel took Mexico's Leading Beach Destination in 2025 and kept it in 2026, while Cancún added the regional city destination title, the regional meetings and conference title, and Mexico's Leading Destination. Playa del Carmen took the city break title, and the Port of Cozumel took the cruise port title. The regional leading destination for 2026 is Costa Rica.

What is actually on Tulum's sand this season is a separate question, and our guide to the beaches covers which stretches are public, which sit behind a hotel, and what a daybed costs.

Conrad Tulum takes two titles, Hilton Tulum takes one

Conrad Tulum Riviera Maya, which is located in Tulkal Chemuyil on the Cancún-Tulum highway, within this municipality and north of the town, won Mexico's Leading Luxury Resort and Mexico and Central America's Leading Luxury All-Inclusive Resort.

Hilton Tulum Riviera Maya All-Inclusive Resort took Mexico's Leading All-Inclusive Resort title, a title it also held in 2023, which went to Hilton Cancun Mar Caribe in 2025. Catalonia Royal Tulum took the title of regional leading beach resort. One more winner on the list carries a local name: the regional adventure tour operator award went to Coba Sunset, which takes its name from Cobá, the archaeological site inside this municipality's boundaries.

Haydee Hernández Pastrana, Tulum's director general of tourism, congratulated the Hilton Tulum and Conrad properties and said the results help the municipality hold its place in the international market, in remarks reported by La Jornada Maya. She added that recognitions of this kind need coordinated work among the businesses, chambers, and offices that sell the destination if they are to mean anything in the season that follows.

More than 200 wedding planners, and an agreement in September

The title landed atop a year of work aimed squarely at the wedding market.

La Jornada Maya reported on September 7 that Tulum presented its tourism offer at the fifth Summit de Asociaciones de Bodas del Caribe Mexicano, in front of more than 200 wedding planners and businesspeople, and that a voluntary agreement was signed there with municipal directorates and wedding associations to strengthen the romance segment. The same report noted that the municipality was preparing Tulum Wedding Week 2027 and joining the Harrah's Poolside Wedding Experience on September 27, organized by the Destination Wedding Specialist Association.

No figure appeared in that report on how many weddings Tulum hosts in a year, or what those weddings bill for.

For couples, the paperwork side is in our guide to planning a destination wedding in Tulum, and the logistics of a ceremony on the sand in our complete guide to beach weddings here. On price, The Tulum Times reported on October 1 that nearly every published figure for a Tulum wedding comes from a planner, a photographer, or a booking directory rather than from the venue that would sign the contract.

San José took the airport title Tulum was nominated for

Tulum's Felipe Carrillo Puerto International Airport was included in the same edition as a nominee. Quinta Fuerza reported on May 26 that it was up for Mexico and Central America's Leading Airport, in a campaign circulated by Mundo Maya that invited travelers and residents to vote online.

The airport title went to Juan Santamaría International in San José, Costa Rica, the same country that took the regional destination award.

Tulum Wedding Week 2027 waits on its dates

The awards calendar moves on to the Grand Final gala in Tanzania on December 12, where the world titles are handed out.

Tulum's own calendar is the one with a blank on it. The municipality says Tulum Wedding Week 2027 is being prepared in collaboration with industry representatives and that the dates will be announced later. Those dates, rather than the trophy, are what will tell a hotel on the beach road whether a second romance title reaches its bookings.

Did you pick Tulum for a wedding, a honeymoon, or an anniversary, and what made you choose it over Cancún or Playa del Carmen? Join the conversation and share your perspective with us on Instagram and Facebook at @thetulumtimes.