In the state of Querétaro, 12 percent of travel agencies are unregulated, either because they lack operating licenses or because they are not located in an established location. This has led to some cases of fraud against people seeking these services, said Adriana Meza Argaluza, a representative and president of the Tourism Commission in the Local Congress.
She explained that it is estimated that two out of every 10 travel agencies are operating illegally, as they lack the requirements to provide these types of services. She added that it has been detected that some of these businesses do not have operating licenses or a physical space, and their operations are carried out through websites that are also unregistered.
She explained that this has become a problem, as there have been cases where people are victims of fraud, because after paying a certain amount of money, they do not receive the services they contracted through these supposed businesses. He added that two out of every 10 tourists have not received the full service they purchased.
“In the state, it was detected that 12 percent of travel agencies are not established. What do you mean by this? Maybe they don’t have an operating license, maybe they aren’t in an established location. Now, since the pandemic, online work has been allowed a lot (…), however, it has also allowed people to misuse or defraud, I’ll put it that way, not only the people who come, the tourists who arrive in Querétaro, but also the tourists who leave Querétaro,” he commented.
He also highlighted that in the state, 86 percent of tourism service providers are not registered, a situation that also places them in the informal sector when carrying out these activities. In response, Meza Argaluza stated that in recent months he introduced a reform initiative to the Tourism Law in the State of Querétaro, aiming to create mechanisms for the formalization of businesses in this sector.
He stated that these reforms would also allow for the creation of a standard for tourism service providers, where all establishments regulated for this activity would be concentrated. He added that the mechanisms created would also provide certainty to people who approach these businesses to obtain services.
Source: oem
