Tourism Crisis in Quintana Roo: 4 Key Threats

QUINTANA ROO — Tourism is the sector that drives Quintana Roo and other states that have understood the importance of leveraging their natural and architectural resources.

With a combination of sun, beach, sand, culture, gastronomy, and colonial cities, Mexico positioned itself in 2024 as the second country in the Americas to receive the most visitors. According to the UN Tourism’s World Tourism Barometer publication, Mexico consolidated its position as a leading destination for international arrivals, with 45 million visitors. This reflects its strategic position and the global recognition of its cultural, natural, and gastronomic offerings. Only the United States surpassed it (72.4 million), and it is far ahead of Canada (19.9 million) and the Dominican Republic (8.5 million).

The Mexican Ministry of Tourism detailed that 86.4 million visitors arrived in the country in 2024, an increase of 15.5% compared to 2023. Of these, 23.2 million arrived by air, which is 1.5% more than in 2023 and 18% more than in 2019. The average expenditure was $1,167, representing a 3.6% increase from 2023 and a 16.5% increase compared to 2019.

However, in Quintana Roo, there is a silent desperation among tourism professionals, as if facing the so-called “four horsemen of the apocalypse.” The variation in hotel occupancy today depends on four factors: the massive arrival of sargassum, the increase in the number of hotel rooms, the boom in vacation rentals, and the lack of a national tourism promotion strategy.

Although authorities downplay it, digital platforms represent unfair competition, as they do not comply with operating licenses, civil protection requirements, alcohol sales permits, or Social Security contributions, as established hotels do. Hoteliers assert that these platforms accept cash payments, sell alcoholic beverages without a license, and now even offer vehicle rentals without insurance.

This is compounded by problems such as human trafficking, child prostitution, and a long list of other issues that everyone knows about but no authority confronts. The evidence is in this holiday season: hotel occupancy in the Riviera Maya fell by 11 points compared to the same period last year, a historic drop.

According to the Quintana Roo Tourism Promotion Council (CPTQ), the Riviera Maya currently records 64.8% occupancy, compared to 73.2% in 2023. In the state-wide cumulative figures, Cancun’s Hotel Zone reports 69.9%; Puerto Morelos, 63.4%; the Continental Zone of Isla Mujeres, 75.4%; and Cozumel, 68%.

We cannot close our eyes to a reality that affects everyone: the decline in tourism due to the factors cited by hoteliers. It is urgent that all three levels of government act, because if they do not, insecurity could become the fifth factor to strike tourism in the Mexican Caribbean.