Caribbean Hoteliers Ask Mexico to Earmark 28% of Non-Resident Fee for Tourism Promotion

Cancún, Quintana Roo — Hoteliers in Mexico’s Caribbean have asked federal authorities to earmark at least 28 percent of the revenue collected through the non-resident fee, known as the DNR, for tourism promotion. José Chapur Zahoul, founder of Grupo Palace, made the case this week, noting that so far not a single peso from the fee has gone toward promoting the country.

The proposal would direct nearly a third of the DNR’s collection to promotion, which currently receives nothing from the levy paid by foreign visitors.

Chapur, one of the state’s best-known hoteliers, said promoting Mexico should be a shared responsibility between the federal government and the states, so that the Mexico brand can be pushed in international markets while individual destinations are promoted locally. He noted that states can already spend their own resources on promotion, as Quintana Roo does through financing mechanisms tied to the lodging tax.

He added that hoteliers must have seats on the bodies that oversee promotion, because their participation helps shape the debate over how the money is spent.

National hotel association joins the push

Miguel Ángel Fong González, president of the Mexican Association of Hotels and Motels (AMHM), said the industry had opposed an increase in the fee, but that its priority now is ensuring part of the revenue goes to promoting the country.

“We are concerned that a percentage of that increase goes to the country’s tourism promotion, which is so necessary to activate employment and trigger the economic spillover in every destination,” Fong said. “The 28 percent is designated to the Treasury, and we believe that from there it can contribute to the federal Tourism Ministry so we can have a dignified promotion.”

Fong said tourism spending benefits commerce, transport and restaurants by about 80 percent, and that hoteliers will try to win officials over through direct dialogue.

For now the 28 percent proposal remains only a request from hoteliers in Quintana Roo and their national counterparts. Federal authorities have not accepted it, and no agreement on how the DNR revenue will be used has been reached.