Quintana Roo Hoteliers Urge Action to Protect Mexican Caribbean Tourism Competitiveness

Cancún, Quintana Roo — Hotel leaders in Quintana Roo are pressing the state government to coordinate action to defend the Mexican Caribbean’s competitiveness, as the destination grapples with fewer flights into Tulum International Airport and the mounting economic cost of sargassum.

The industry wants to safeguard the flow of visitors during the coming holiday seasons, warning that a prolonged low season and rising operating costs have already forced several properties to close temporarily, taking roughly 1,000 hotel rooms off the market.

Rising Fees Draw Industry Concern

David Ortiz Mena, president of the Tulum Hotels Association and of the Mexican Caribbean Hotel Council, criticized the fee increases being proposed for the aviation sector next year.

“We view with great concern what is coming next year, which is an increase in the DNR, the air navigation fee, that accumulated over the past two years already represents 55 percent … at a time when international conditions limit the number of flights and create a difficult context for airlines; there is also a proposal to raise the fee for the use of airspace by 10 percent. So we are moving somewhat against where we should be going,” he said.

He argued that commercial terms offered to airlines must be sustained over time, describing the current arrangement as a learning curve for a non-commercial administration — “not to say an Army company” — compared with what an airline would normally expect.

Airlines, Fuel and Taxes

Toni Chaves, president of the Riviera Maya Hotels Association, said higher fuel prices and increases in taxes on international visitors are pushing up ticket prices and eroding the Mexican Caribbean’s ability to compete with other tourism markets.

“It is not good news because anything that reduces air seats to the destination is not good news, but we are waiting for Andrés Martínez to come back from the fairs he has attended through the CPTQ. We know he has met with other airlines and that he brings news for the winter,” Chaves said.

Sargassum as a Raw Material

Both hoteliers agreed that the massive arrival of sargassum causes millions of dollars in losses for the sector, and they urged authorities to stop treating the seaweed as a polluting waste and instead turn it into a usable raw material.

Rodrigo de la Peña, president of the Cancún, Puerto Morelos and Isla Mujeres Hotels Association, welcomed signs that cooperation with airlines is being revived.

“What we like is that cooperation with the airlines is being taken up again. Tourism Secretary Bernardo and Andrés Martínez, on behalf of the CPTQ, are doing this to get more flights, to bring more seats, which we really lacked in summer,” he said.

The hoteliers said they are counting on joint efforts between state authorities and the private sector to restore operating incentives and consolidate new routes, protecting jobs and regional tourism growth.