Mexico City /
He cap to the rooms for hosting platforms in Mexico City it is a fact. After the approval in the local Congress of the modifications to the Tourism Lawservices like Airbnb can only be offered half of the year.
The measure proposed by Martí Batres, head of the capital’s government, is aimed at reducing the barriers to competition in the sector since they point out, “it has altered” the functioning of accommodation in the area and they claim it has contributed to the process of gentrification and increase in housing prices.
Airbnb boasts 40 percent of sites to reserve accommodation in the country, according to market researcher Statista. Behind it are services such as Trivago, Booking and Despegar.
In the midst of the approval, the largest player in the market maintained that the ban will affect thousands of people (between users and service providers) and that will not add to balancing the prices in the capital.
“It is proven that regulations that seek to limit short stays in various cities around the world have not been successful in reducing rental prices or increasing the availability of housing. On the contrary, they have led to a negative impact on the local economic impact, the disempowerment of small entrepreneurs, the increase in prices in traditional accommodation and the creation or increase of informality in destinations like New York.”
In a shared position MILLENNIUMthe company considered the approval of the reform ‘surprising’, which arose just six months after the publication of the changes in the Tourism Law in a comprehensive manner.
The company added that on this occasion not all the actors participated. involved (authorities, hosts, neighbors, hotel associations and digital platforms).
Likewise, he pointed out that this activity contributes to the benefit of the family economy of thousands of people. Thus, the reform that considered “unjustified” It will affect both families and hosts in Mexico City.
CdMx, pioneer in tax payment for hosting platforms
It is estimated that in the Mexican market there are more than 80 thousand properties registered within Airbnb, more than 20 thousand units have been registered in Mexico City alone.
Given the boom generated by accommodation platforms on a global scale, the country’s capital was a pioneer in Latin America in the implementation of the lodging taxin 2017.
Currently guests in the area must pay between 3 and 5 percent of the advertisement price, said tax rate depends on the type of accommodation in question. The payment of taxes throughout the country depends on the legislation in each entity.
Meanwhile, the platform can charge between 3 and 16 percent per host service fee, this percentage depends on whether it is a shared rate or an exclusive rate for hosts.
Between 2017 and 2023, the firm retained and issued more than 500 million pesos to the authorities for the Accommodation Tax in the capital. At the country level the figure amounts to 2,200 million pesos.
With this, for each reservation made in CdMx through Airbnb, it is estimated that 28 percent of the total price is retained and paid monthly to the treasury. The company points out that last year an economic impact greater than the 15 billion pesos and nearly 63 thousand jobs were generated in the entity.
“Airbnb is a platform committed to the democratization of tourism and to putting technology at the service of citizens, always seeking that the activity of eventual tourist stay contributes to local development, the formalization of the economy and community inclusion.”
Airbnb added that it will continue to work with authorities with the intention of promoting local economic development and inclusion in the destinations in which it has a presence.
CMOG
