With 488 votes in favor and only one against, the plenary of the Chamber of Deputies approved reforms to guarantee health services to tourists in any state of the country.
The approved ruling, which modifies and adds Article 7 of the General Law of Tourism and was turned to the Senate for its discussion and vote, establishes that “the Ministry of Tourism will cooperate with its counterpart of Health, to implement sanitary measures so that, in the rendering of tourist services, safety is provided to tourists and the local population that interacts with them”.
When presenting the document in the tribune, Congressman Xavier Azuara Zúñiga, from PAN, said that the initiatives of Congresswoman Alma Anahí González Hernández, from Morena, and the one presented by himself were considered, both with the purpose of “promoting the coordination of the authorities”.
He pointed out that the world tourism industry was one of the most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In Mexico, the economic impact was severe, as it went from just over 45 million tourists in 2019 to 24 million in 2020, a drop of more than 46 percent, which affected families who make a living from this sector.
He indicated that the World Tourism Organization classified Mexico as one of the most vulnerable countries due to the weight this activity has in the economy, which is 8.5 percent in the Gross Domestic Product. He affirmed that there is no section in the Law that considers health problems or cooperation with the Ministry of Health to work together in this matter.
“The approval of the opinion promotes an adjustment in the legal framework that will promote the bases of the organization between the authorities with the private sector to guarantee the health of the local population and visitors to tourist areas in the face of a new sanitary emergency”, she underlined.
Congresswoman Gonzalez Hernandez also stated that the COVID-19 pandemic represented an enormous challenge for tourism in Mexico, which is a pillar of the national economy.
She assured that the tourist affluence fell 46.1 percent, but due to the sanitary measures adopted, this sector did not collapse, so that by the end of this year the arrival of 42.1 million international tourists and a foreign currency income of 25,370 million dollars is expected.
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