CANCUN, MEXICO -- Mexico's government and tourism industry plan to invest 800 million pesos ($60.6 million) to replenish beaches in Cancun, the Riviera Maya and the island of Cozumel, a hoteliers group said here Friday.

The project will be the second of its kind to be implemented since Hurricane Wilma ravaged the beaches of Quintana Roo state in November 2005, the president of the Cancun Hoteliers Association, Jesus Almaguer Salazar, told Efe.

"With this announcement we want to send the world a clear symbol of the efforts we business-owners are making, with the three levels of government, to maintain the leadership of the Mexican Caribbean in Latin American tourism," he said.

Work is to begin March 30 and conclude July 30, in the middle of the peak tourist season in Cancun and the surrounding area.

State tourism officials say that Quintana Roo will have received more than 12 million visitors by the end of this year, including cruise ship passengers.

The restoration project is divided into three phases, the first of which calls for removing all of the structures erected by individual hotels to stop beach erosion.

Phase two entails adding 6 million cu. meters (211.47 million cu. feet) of sand to the beaches that are most in need of replenishment.

The third and final phase of the project envisions the creation of a system to monitor the sea, winds and rates of erosion with an eye toward taking preventive action.

Mexico expects to earn $13.53 billion from tourism this year, making the sector the country's No. 3 source of revenue after oil exports and remittances from emigrants in the United States.