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While many hotel-condo developments around the Caribbean and Central America flounder, a developer in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, is finding success with the much-debated model.

“We’re in a unique situation,” said Jack Pearlman, managing director of Playa Associates.

Mexico Tourism Board

Long-range planning discussions for Mexico resort areas are always part fun and fantasy, a chance to talk of grand schemes knowing few will happen in our lifetime.

For example, when government officials in Playa del Carmen last week revealed plans calling for a train route connecting Cancun and Tulum, it was easy to let out a little chuckle. Great idea, Mexico industry veterans might agree, but nobody was rushing out to make seat reservations.

Yet, other aspects of the plans certainly offer welcome news for the fast-growing resort and second home industry in the region. In addition to the train, a new toll road west of the Riviera Maya coastline and a replacement for the over-worked 307 highway from Cancun are also on the agenda, reports Thomas Lloyd of Top Mexico Real Estate, who attended the meeting.

Despite the constant headlines about drug-related violence, Mexico remains the preferred destination for U.S. second home buyers, according to a new study.

Mexico was twice as popular as Central and South America, according to the 2010 Second Home Trend Report issued by North Carolina-based research firm E360, which surveyed existing second home owners.

It’s easy to feel sympathy for the Mexico Tourism Board. Against a backdrop of news reports about beheadings and mass murders, the board’s job is to convince tourists to choose Mexico as the perfect spot for a relaxing vacation.

There’s no point in trying to tackle the issue head-on; no way to spin a fun marketing campaign around the turmoil. (“Mexico: Not Nearly as Violent as You Think!” Or maybe, “What, Are You Too Chicken for Cancun?”)

Instead, faced with crisis, the Tourism Board is completely ignoring the situation. Last week the government-backed group launched a $55 million campaign targeting North America travelers, built around the artfully unexciting phrase, “The Place You Thought You Knew.”

A new company in Mexico is based on the simple premise that frequent flier miles are the perfect sales incentive for second home buyers.

Mazatlan-based AMAS Inc. is marketing the promotion, which offers developers an easy way to offer miles to their clients. A unit priced between $300,000 and $400,000 might include 600,000 miles, for example.

More than anything, the program protects developers from the need to slash their prices, says Larry Foster, owner of AMAS Inc.

Puerto Los Cabos

As Mexico reels from a year of drug violence and turmoil, Mexico City-based Grupo Questro is rolling out Puerto Los Cabos, an ambitious 2,000-acre marina and resort project on the southern tip of Baja California.

In addition to the 439-slip marina, the largest private facility in Mexico, the project includes an array of lots and residential units priced between $195,000 and $15 million, and signature Greg Norman and Jack Nicklaus golf courses--all targeting the type of international buyers wary of Mexico.

In an e-mail interview Grupo Questro general director Eduardo Sanchez Navarro discusses the state of the market, a new wave of buyers and Puerto Los Cabo’s latest marketing strategy for turbulent times.

The Mexican government formally solicited bids this week to build and operate a new airport near Tulum, the next official step toward making the long-discussed project a reality.

The winning company will be granted a 50 year concession on the airport, according to Investment Properties Mexico, which has been closely following the project. The airport is slotted for 3,700 acres inland from Tulum, and will be Mexico’s first privately built and operated airport, the site reports.

Mexico is developing a plan to attract more U.S. retirees, including provisions to offer them health care, according to a published report.

Mexico is already home to 1 million U.S. retirees, and that number could jump to 5 million by 2025, the Miami Herald reports. New proposals would likely allow Medicare payments to Mexico facilities certified by the U.S., the Herald says.

For years government officials in Mexico have discussed a new airport for the fast-growing region around Tulum, south of Cancun.

The Cancun airport is already over-run and annoying to second-home owners uninterested in the foam bars of the hotel strip. The drive to Tulum can easily take an hour, depending on traffic conditions on the one highway running the length of Riviera Maya. A new airport could open up the region for a wave of tourism and vacation-home development.

Mareazul, Grand Coral's project on Riviera Maya

With the United States still wallowing in the blahs, Mexico developers are allocating more resources to target Canadian second home buyers.

Although difficult to quantify, project managers say the Canadian snow birds are bouncing back quicker than other buyers. Canadians also seem more willing to pull the trigger on a sale, un-encumbered by the recent economic nightmares haunting U.S. buyers, developers say.