Just days after the CDC lifted the swine flu travel advisory to Mexico last May, I visited Cancun and the Riviera Maya for a story on how the area was doing. Report is here.

Things have changed since then – hotel occupancy rates in Cancun have nearly doubled from around 43% at Memorial Day to more than 80% in July (it’s dipped again in hot August). For more on occupancy rates, look here.

While Cancun didn’t do much for me, I really liked Playa del Carmen and would love to go back and explore the Yucatan more.