Photo: AP

One of Mexico's most popular tourist destinations is spiralling into cartel violence.

Cancun saw 14 murders in just 36 hours this month, Mexican news outlet Noticaribe reports.

That's the highest murder rate ever reported in the country.

Fourteen people were killed and at least five others wounded in six gunfire incidents on April 4.

That follows a Canadian government safety and security warning for travellers visiting the Playa del Carmen and Cancun area that was issued in March.

And in February, an explosion on a tourist ferry in Playa del Carmen injured more than 20 people.

More than 100 people have been killed in Cancun so far this year as drug cartel violence escalates.

The fallout is beginning to threaten the country’s multibillion-dollar tourism industry.

Cancun had until recently been one of Mexico's safest destinations, but during the past year, several reports have also come out about spiked alcohol at some resorts, tourists passing out and being robbed, having no memory of what happened, and of deaths in some cases.

In January, the U.S. State Department warned tourists of tainted or substandard alcohol.

WestJet flies direct from Kelowna to Cancun daily during the winter months, and on any given day, thousands of Canadians are in the resort city.