The Mexican resort city of Cancun was sleepy countryside before a building boom in the 1970s. It all started when the government decided it needed to draw more international vacation activity to a nice beachfront town on the Caribbean. They would start the development project and offer travel deals to entice visitors; it worked.

Now, less than 50 years later there are well over 100 hotels along a several-mile stretch called the Hotel Zone. The town is now a major city with an urban downtown, major shopping areas and world-class dining. In the slow economy, many of the hotels are offering Cancun travel deals and you can find lodging at most any budget range.

There are numerous adventures to be had in and around Cancun. Obviously the usual parasailing, sport fishing and snorkeling are available. You can also go out into the country and ride ATVs or visit ancient ruins. The island resort of Cozumel is easily reached by boat or plane, if you’d like to expand your vacation.

I will point out that the whole region can become very hot and humid in the summer months. Next time I go, I’ll look hard at planning the trip for the months between late Fall and Spring. In the wintertime the temperatures are still beautiful.

If you know of somebody who is getting married or graduating, you might consider giving them one or more travel gift vouchers that can be redeemed to cover part of the costs for a Caribbean vacation. You can give a voucher, or gift card, that will pay for rental car, various airlines and hotel chains and, if you give a voucher for Travelocity, they have even more flexibility in how they use the card.

The use of a travel gift voucher seems to be somewhat more popular in Europe than in the U.S. They are not for everybody, but they can be a unique gift option in some cases. In any event, consider Cancun for your next winter or spring vacation; and when you’re there, realize that it basically did not exist in the 1960s.