The National Association of Hotel Chains (ANCH) and the Mexican Association of Hotels and Motels (AMHM), in collaboration with the Sustainable Tourism Advanced Research Center (STARC) at Anáhuac University Cancún, analyzed a study that reveals “a profound competitive asymmetry that jeopardizes the sustainability of the formal tourism sector in the country.”
Just days before the start of the Easter holidays (March 29 to April 5) and with an eye on the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the data shows that vacation rentals like Airbnb have ceased to be part of the “sharing economy” and have become a large-scale business due to four factors: 1) the massive supply, 2) the volume of business, 3) the concentration of properties, and 4) revenue.
In this regard, hoteliers point out that vacation rental units now account for 43.5% of the country’s formal hotel supply. In less than 15 years, rental platforms have reached 50% of what the hotel industry built in a century, but without being subject to the land use regulations, civil protection standards, national registration requirements, and tax payments that the sector has complied with over the years.
“The hotel industry is accustomed to innovation, but we can’t compete when the rules of the game are uneven for us.” “It is urgent that vacation rentals be regulated as commercial establishments and tourism service providers, complying, at the very least, with the safety and civil protection standards that we guarantee,” stated Jorge Paoli, president of the ANCH (National Association of Hotels and Restaurants).
The report emphasizes that, in the face of international events such as the 2026 World Cup, the lack of strict regulation contributes to rising housing costs for locals, violations of land use regulations, and safety risks for tourists. Serious cases associated with the lack of oversight on these platforms have been documented, ranging from poisoning incidents to the use of properties by criminal groups.
Déborah Angulo Villanueva, a hotelier in the southern Mexican Caribbean, indicated in January that, given the growth of vacation rentals like Airbnb, hotels are on high alert, as they urgently need to improve their facilities and customer service.
Source: reportur
