Vulnerability and Sea Level Rise in the Coastal Tourism City of Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Abstract

The coastal tourism city of Playa del Carmen is located in the heart of the Mexican Caribbean’s Riviera Maya. This attractive sun and beach destination has the largest number of hotel rooms in the country (i.e. 10,000 more than Cancún), which has made it Mexico’s main magnet for tourists from the United States (US), Canada and Europe. Playa del Carmen is the second biggest city in the state of Quintana Roo and the fastest-growing metropolis in Mexico and Latin America. Rapid urbanisation and tourism development have altered the city’s natural ecosystems, among them mangroves and wetlands. These changes have disturbed the sedimentary dynamics of the coastal dunes and put more pressure on the barrier reef system. The area’s vulnerability was analysed based on flood scenarios of a 1 metre (m), 2 m and 3 m sea level rise to estimate the total property damage in US dollars.