QUINTANA ROO, Mexico — An update to the Tourism Law in Quintana Roo will bring increased regulation for lodging applications and platforms such as Airbnb, Booking, and Home to Go. With the updated regulations, these platforms must now adhere to established guidelines, including being registered in the State Tourism Registry (Retur-Q), which currently has a roster of more than 300 companies in the sector.
Bernardo Cueto Riestra, the state Secretary of Tourism, stated that lodging providers have an obligation to know the requirements for offering this accommodation service to tourists and to be in the state's database. Failure to comply with these regulations could result in fines of up to 100,000 pesos.
He emphasized that one of the important points in the regulations is the regulation and ordering of the operations of lodging platforms, which will achieve the integration of hosts and lodging providers and ensure compliance with essential requirements for their operation.
He added that this will lead to working groups that will allow municipalities to have a margin of action regarding the decision each city council makes in terms of the offering of lodging platforms, whether to prohibit them or permit their operation in each of the destinations.
The state official said that a meeting was held this week with the Mexican Caribbean Hotel Council to inform them of the implementation and publication of the regulations. Therefore, the task has been completed at the state level, and the next step will be to review the actions of each municipality for the regulation and ordering of the platforms.
"In the registry, hosts and lodging providers have the obligation to register to operate. There is coordination with the Quintana Roo Tax Administration Service for the collection of taxes from digital platforms, and the next step is the decision of the municipal presidents to authorize and prohibit digital platforms," he highlighted.
He added that there is a 90-day period for the full application of what the regulations stipulate, from its publication, and the State Secretariat of Tourism has the competence to regulate it.
"There have been reforms to the State Tourism Law; I dare say it is the most advanced in the country. Governor Mara Lezama has ensured that our legislative framework is adapted to the reality of the industry," he indicated.
The regulations of the Tourism Law in Quintana Roo allow for a much more effective margin of action on issues of ordering tourist activity, the prevention of human trafficking, and the exploitation of children in tourist facilities.
Presence of Lodging Platforms in Quintana Roo
According to the Secretariat of Tourism, there are 24,893 rental units in the state operating on lodging platforms like Airbnb, where guests stay for an average of 3.5 days.
The three destinations with the most active rental offerings are:
- Playa del Carmen, with 7,922 units
- Cancún, with 6,724 units
- Tulum, with 5,458 units
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