On 05MAR, 2024, the government of Quintano Roo, Mexico announced in the local paper, the Gazette, that existing Tourism Regulations would be put into law, with some additional provisos. 60 days later those laws went into force.
For many years, tourism laws had been trying to get tourism providers and tourists to match services to expectations, to protect the tourist and legitimize their tourism industry across the board. The Quintana Roo government believe these new laws will allow them to do that.
“This is a genuine effort to regulate tourism and tourism standards,” says Tim Scurry, Founder and CEO of Travelkore, which provides a secure method to pay VISITAX in the region.
“It takes steps to combat fraud, create accountability and promote professionalism. I believe there will be skeptics and influencers who will attempt to undermine the law because it levels the playing field between providers and focusses on making sure everybody is paying their fair share of taxes. (Property tax, municipal taxes, environmental taxes etc.)”
All tourism providers must renew their registration annually with the State Tourism Registry, and by doing so are open to penalties if the services they provide are not as promised or advertised. This provides a mechanism for tourists to file a complaint and is intended to maintain the integrity of the tourism industry in Quintana Roo. The penalties are based on U.M.A.s (a unit of measure that the Mexican government has devised in order to make the fines inflationary proof) ranging from 5-965 U.M.A.s. Quick math against the American dollar at their 2024 rate of 108.34 pesos per U.M.A. results in a maximum fine of $6,285 USD.
If tourism providers decide not to register, they will be fined for failure to register, as they are not recognized as a legitimate business.
Tourism providers are now also obligated to report any instances of suspicion of child trafficking and child exploitation. They must report this to all three levels of government: municipal, state and federal.
“Obviously, the protection of children and adolescents cannot be anything but good and deserves support across the board.” says Scurry.
In the past, providers may have advised tourists that they are not required to pay VISITAX and there wasn’t a penalty enforcement for doing so. While VISITAX was introduced in 2021, it wasn’t the law until DEC 2022. On 05MAR, the Quintana Roo government announced hefty penalties for non-compliance.
Hotels were against the tax as they were still in recovery mode after the Covid pandemic, and they opposed it in part to encourage tourism but also to look to level the playing field with Airbnb’s and other digital platform properties, which are now estimated to be 40% of overnight stays in the region.
With these new laws, these digital platform properties are now required to pay their share of property tax and fees relating to tourism, as the hotels are. In November of 2023 the government shut down a number of Airbnb’s for unpaid taxes, affecting many American and Canadians who had bought these properties for the purpose of renting them out.
In addition, the federal government has stopped transfer payments, and Quintano Roo has some significant investment developments underway, including the new Tulum Airport which opened in December 2023, and the Tren Maya, a new train service which will connect five states over 1500 kilometers.
“They have to raise money from those using the assets of the state”, Scurry explains. “I think the measures regarding safety and disaster management are important. We have all seen the negative impacts of these issues and some proactive planning and investment is needed.”
It is expected that Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama Espanosa will announce more reforms on Facebook and social media posts, as she has done in the past.
“Social justice is the term used by the governor to represent the concept of being socially responsible to workers and everyday people who live in the state.” Adds Scurry.
Quintana Roo, and naturally all of Mexico hope to turn themselves into a first-class destination with the additional funding and protections, and the over half million visitors to the country just last week would probably agree this is an important step.
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