Hotels in Southern Mexican Caribbean Alert Over Airbnb Growth

Cancún — Déborah Angulo Villanueva, a hotel entrepreneur in the southern Mexican Caribbean, stated that with the growth of vacation rentals like Airbnb, hotels are on alert as they urgently need to improve their facilities and customer service.

Angulo Villanueva mentioned that in the global economic context, tourists seek to “shield their wallets,” so the price difference puts hotels in check, since “travelers know what they are looking for when they rent a house through a platform, but they also know what to expect from a formal hotel.”

She also recalled that state authorities are advancing in the fiscal regulation of digital platforms, and “while this levels the playing field, it also intensifies direct competition to attract tourists,” she said.

Likewise, she called on hoteliers to enhance advantages, “such as surveillance and established security protocols, professional daily cleaning of rooms, and access to food and beverages, in some cases 24 hours a day, to have competitive spaces,” according to Sipse.

According to data from the Quintana Roo State Tourism Secretariat, in Chetumal, Mahahual, and Bacalar, there are 1,110 active vacation rentals. In Chetumal, there are 359 active vacation rentals; in Mahahual, 187; and in Bacalar, there are 564 active vacation rentals.

Darwin Covarrubias, Secretary of Civil Protection of Playa del Carmen, recently stated that they will gradually begin applying regulation to vacation rentals like Airbnb, which is already established in the Tourism Law.