Amexme Riviera Maya Presents 2026 Work Report and Urges License Fee Review

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — The Riviera Maya chapter of the Mexican Association of Businesswomen (Amexme) presented its 2026 work report to business leaders in Quintana Roo with a warning: high operating license fees in Playa del Carmen are pushing more merchants into the informal economy.

Chapter president Valeria Rindertsma presented the report alongside Carla Toledo, Iliana Galván, Lila López and Nelly Nava. She said that for the first time, none of the 11 entrepreneurs in the fourth edition of the PASE entrepreneurship program managed to formalize their businesses because of municipal license costs. Some, she added, continue to operate but avoid putting up signage because the cost is prohibitive.

“Instead of moving from informality to formality, we are going backward,” Rindertsma said. “More and more businesses are closing because the price of our licenses is unsustainable.”

The group has raised the issue with Playa del Carmen’s mayor and city secretaries, she said. Amexme and other business chambers are calling for clearer state laws to remove discretion in how license fees are calculated. “When preparing a budget, business owners need certainty about what a permit will cost,” Rindertsma said.

She also urged faster implementation of Mexico’s new national Law on the Elimination of Bureaucratic Procedures and Digitalization, which would cap annual fee increases to the UMA inflation index. “We urgently need it because it will give us certainty that next year we will still be operating,” she said. “If a permit suddenly goes up 500 percent, it completely destabilizes you.”

The 2026 report detailed the chapter’s work supporting new entrepreneurs, promoting tourism, encouraging local spending, and carrying out social and charitable actions. The chapter followed up with more than 40 women interested in joining and incorporated 16 new members. Upcoming activities include a workshop on operating licenses and a review of the proposed new civil protection regulation.

Amexme also renewed or established collaboration agreements with seven organizations: the Small Hotels Association; Canacine, the national film chamber; Empresarios por Quintana Roo; Canacintra, the manufacturing chamber, and its Mujeres Industriales group; Hospital Joya; Banco Kapital; and Universidad Innóvate.

A stronger Tetra Pak Challenge alliance was also announced, bringing together Amexme, Rotary International, Universidad Riviera and the Quintana Roo Secretariat of Environment and Climate Change. The recycling challenge has organized three editions, two in partnership with the CRIT Teletón center to support treatments for children with disabilities.