Benito Juárez to Regulate Cancún Vacation Rental Boom With New Urban Development Plan

Cancún, Quintana Roo — The Benito Juárez municipal government plans to use its next Urban Development Program (PDU) to bring order to the vacation rental boom driven by digital platforms such as Airbnb.

Officials said the goal is to determine where such accommodations may and may not operate, noting that not every area of Cancún has the urban conditions needed to host this type of tourism.

The proposal calls for establishing specific zones within the municipality and setting the rules that properties used for vacation rentals must meet.

“Not all zones are suitable for receiving this tourism,” municipal officials said, explaining that the city center and the Hotel Zone could be considered among the areas where the activity would be allowed, though the final decision will depend on the PDU working groups.

The municipality said its authority is mainly related to land-use planning, while other aspects of vacation rental regulation fall under state jurisdiction.

The push to regulate the platforms comes amid a depopulation trend in downtown Cancún, where fewer residents live as commercial and tourist activity grows.

Affordable Housing Also a Goal

Officials acknowledged that they do not yet have a concrete figure for how many homes have shifted from residential use to vacation rentals, but said the diagnosis is still underway.

The PDU will also seek to create incentives for revitalizing central areas and promoting affordable housing, taking advantage of infrastructure already in place there, including potable water, drainage, electricity, sidewalks and roads.

Officials said the intention is for vacation rentals to grow under a framework of land-use planning and clear rules, preventing the lodging model from spreading indiscriminately across the city.