Playa del Carmen Offers Business Incentives, Courts Investment in Low Season

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — Playa del Carmen is keeping an economic reactivation strategy in place through the low tourist season, offering incentives to small businesses, bringing unlicensed establishments into compliance and courting investments meant to broaden the municipality’s economy beyond tourism.

Estefanía Hernández Flores, the city’s secretary of Economic Development and Investment Attraction, said around 50% of business licenses remain in operation, and that the programs mainly target micro-entrepreneurs and family-run businesses.

Beyond license-related support, she said the municipality is working to regularize establishments in coordination with the Urban Development, Civil Protection and Inspection departments.

She also cited tax benefits on property tax, construction permits and land use, along with commercial opportunities tied to the Buen Fin national shopping event, as ways to stimulate the domestic market during the period of lower activity.

At the same time, the municipal administration is seeking investment in sectors outside traditional tourism, including film production and logistics, as well as projects linked to the circular economy.

Sargassum and manufacturing proposals

Hernández Flores said the pipeline includes a Grupo Modelo project that, according to the official, could generate 1,000 direct jobs and build up a local supplier chain.

She also pointed to a proposal from Rubisco, a company formed by Playa del Carmen businesspeople, to develop 19 plants for the use and regeneration of sargassum, with the potential to produce electricity, biogas and biofertilizers.

The secretary said talks continue with national and international organizations, including the European Union and German development cooperation, to secure funding and technical support for sargassum innovation projects.

Officials also expect studies to determine whether the liquid obtained during the seaweed drying process can be used viably in agriculture.

Hernández Flores said the efforts are part of a search for new economic alternatives for Playa del Carmen, though several of the projects remain in the planning, evaluation or development stages.