Congressman proposes to increase environmental tax on tourists in Cancun

This under the concept of “Environmental Sanitation Law”

Cancun, Quinatana Roo, (January 15, 2022).- Representative José de la Peña presented an initiative to reform the Treasury Law of the municipality of Benito Juárez and increase the amount paid by tourists who arrive in Cancun for the “Environmental Sanitation Law”. 

Currently, tourists who visit the destination must pay 30 percent of the value of the Measurement and Updating Unit (UMA) per occupied room per night (32 Mexican Pesos).

The proposal proposes to increase this charge if the room is occupied by more than one person. 

A first guest would pay 30 percent of the value of the UMA, for each additional guest 15 percent would be added until reaching four guests. 

In a room occupied by a family of four people, up to 150 percent more than the value paid now (134 Mexican pesos) would be paid. 

The collection of the Environmental Sanitation Right, which adds up to around 175 million pesos annually, is used to solve and mitigate environmental problems in Cancun and its surroundings. 

However, the initiative was not well accepted among the hotel sector, as they maintain that raising taxes will aggravate the occupation crisis that the pandemic unleashed and from which the destination has not yet recovered. 

Abelardo Vara, hotelier, and businessman, expressed his disagreement with the proposal of the representative, as he argued that the situation is not to charge more taxes to tourists, but to generate incentives and attractive travel options so that they can choose the Mexican Caribbean. 

“How is it possible that if our representatives see that we are going through a terrible situation, the worst in the history of the hotel industry, they think this,” commented Vara. 

Roberto Cintrón Gómez, president of the Cancun, Puerto Morelos, and Isla Mujeres Hotel Association, threatened to file injunctions if Congress gives the green light to this collection measure. 

Abelardo Vara maintains that this can make tourists consider going on vacation to other destinations in the Caribbean, such as the Dominican Republic.

Source: Heraldo de Mexico

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