Only in Cancun, there are about 15 thousand places for rent through any of these web sites
The National Association of Hotels and Motels denounced that between 20 and 30 digital platforms operate in Quintana Roo and offer up to 15 thousand accommodation places in Cancun without any supervision or complying with sanitary measures, nor paying fees. This represents unfair competition for establishments.
The president of the association at the national level, Juan José Fernández Carrillo, indicated that for a long time they have demanded the authorities to regulate the service of digital hosting platforms in the state since they generate a lot of inequality in the formal sector.
“It is not fair or correct for a company, a hotel, to make investments on permits, rights, insurance, personnel, and operating costs, and now with the Airbnb issue, which are actually like 30 platforms of that type, they are just operating, ”he said.
Fernández Carrillo indicated that it is not fair that these platforms even offer better rates, in the sense that they do not have the same burden in terms of paying taxes, but also do not have the services that a hotel offers, such as cleaning and guarantee that the rooms are sanitized for benefit of guests and staff.
“There are many situations that can´t be compared, in terms of security, prestige, cleanliness, between an established hotel and a platform, and it is not fair that they do not pay when they are renting; although they later regret it ”, he recalled the case of the Canadian family that died in Tulum due to a gas leak a couple of years ago.
Fernández Carrillo insisted that it is only fair that these types of service providers pay the same rights to the Ministry of Finance and Civil Protection since they also generate an image for the destination.
The leader of the hoteliers in Mexico estimated that in Cancun alone there are about 15 thousand places for rent through any of these platforms that operate clandestinely, although the State Secretariat of Tourism (Sedetur) has reported that there are more than 21 thousand units for rent.
Starting this year, all service providers in this digital option must register in a state taxpayer registry, which has not been very successful. Even so, these types of establishments do not pay an operating license, which puts them at an advantage over the formal hotel sector.
Last year the most popular hosting platform that maintains an agreement with the Quintana Roo government is Airbnb, which announced that the payment of the withheld lodging tax was about 139 million pesos in two years.
On the other hand. more than 7 thousand businesses have registered for state tourism certification including hotels, travel agencies, and theme parks, issued by the Health and Tourism secretariats.
The Certification in Protection and Sanitary Prevention in Tourist Facilities (CPPSIT) guarantees that the places and services comply with the protocols to guarantee the safety of the clients.
The records are concentrated in the municipality of Benito Juárez, with 2,395; Solidaridad has 1,513; Cozumel, 829; Tulum, 679; Bacalar, 519; Isla Mujeres 370; Lázaro Cárdenas, 288; Othón P. Blanco, 286; Puerto Morelos, 193; Felipe Carrillo Puerto, 24, and José María Morelos, 6.
The State Secretariat of Tourism reported that as of December 10 there were 72,076 tourists in the state, with a hotel occupancy of 44.1 percent in Cancun; 25.2 percent in Riviera Maya; 36.6 in Cozumel, and 27.6 in Gran Costa Maya.
The number of flights is also increasing; 184 arrivals are reported, 76 were national, and 106 international. It should be noted that last Friday the British airline British Airways resumed its frequency from London to the Mexican Caribbean. The London-Gatwick-Cancun flight will be scheduled three times a week every Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Source:lajornadamaya.mx
The Cancun Post
