Mérida Lands on Airbnb Top 10 Amid Push to Limit Short-Term Rentals

The Tourism Business Council of Yucatán has asked local authorities to regulate short-term rental platforms operating in Mérida, like Airbnb. 

This request comes as recent data confirms the city now ranks among the ten municipalities with the highest concentration of vacation rentals in Mexico. 

This system would identify properties used for temporary stays and record the individuals responsible for managing them. The council also requires operators to comply with mandatory zoning laws, civil protection guidelines, and standard security protocols.

According to Inside Airbnb, between June and September 2025, Mérida hosts 6,662 listings on the platform. This figure places Yucatán’s capital in 10th place nationally for short-term rental availability. 

Playa del Carmen leads the country with nearly 15,000 active listings, followed by the Cuauhtémoc borough in Mexico City, Tulum, Bahía de Banderas, and Puerto Vallarta.

Security Concerns and the Push for Regulation

The business council argues that the informal lodging sector must meet the same obligations as traditional hotels. Abraham Martínez highlighted security vulnerabilities inherent in the platform model. 

Traditional hotels maintain constant staff presence at reception desks to register and interact directly with guests. Many short-term rentals also operate through automated systems, allowing visitors to access properties with digital entry codes without ever interacting with a human host. The business leader said this automated approach makes it impossible to verify occupants’ identities. 

This anonymity makes it harder to detect irregular situations and increases the risk of illicit activities in residential neighborhoods.

Legislative Delays and the Lack of Transparency

The business council previously submitted its regulatory petition directly to the State Congress and state tourism authorities. While local lawmakers publicly claimed they are drafting a legislative initiative, the business council has not received any drafts or formal updates. State authorities have provided no response or timeline for implementation.

Data Tracking and New Monitoring Tools

A new digital monitoring platform centralizes statistics on tourism behavior in Yucatán, gathering metrics previously scattered across multiple institutions. The database integrates indicators from federal tourism agencies, the Bank of Mexico, the National Institute of Anthropology and History, and municipal governments. Users can track visitor arrivals, overnight stays, cruise ship passenger volumes, and foot traffic at archaeological zones.

The platform is designed to process and organize existing official data rather than replace it. One feature includes a color-coded alert system that visually tracks changes in tourism indicators over time. The organization also plans to publish monthly evaluations of overnight tourism and quarterly reports comparing local industry performance with national averages. Future upgrades will track specific visitor demographics, including age ranges, daily expenditure rates, and the average size of travel groups. The council ultimately aims to establish a permanent tourism observatory to support corporate decision-making.

The Expanding Footprint Beyond the Capital

While Mérida accounts for most of the short-term rental supply in Yucatán, the trend is expanding outward, mainly to coastal cities and towns such as Progreso and the inland colonial city of Valladolid. 

Because digital lodging platforms operate across multiple jurisdictions, the business council insists that the upcoming legislation apply at the state level rather than remain restricted to municipal governments.

Potential Regulatory Outcomes Based on Regional Precedents

In Mexico City, local legislators reformed the Tourism Law to impose strict operational limits on digital lodging platforms. The capital introduced a mandatory electronic host registry and implemented a maximum occupancy cap of 180 nights per year for any property used as a short-term rental. 

If a property exceeds this limit, the city government refuses to renew its registration for the following year. Hosts in the capital attempted to block these measures through legal injunctions, but federal courts ruled that the suspensions were inadmissible. The courts determined that the right to housing and urban balance supersedes the economic interests of short-term rental operators. Authorities in Mexico City also explicitly prohibited converting government-subsidized social housing into tourist accommodations.

Yucatán applies a 4.5% lodging tax on short-term rentals, which platforms collect automatically upon booking. Future state regulations will likely build upon this existing tax structure by adding operational constraints. Based on regional precedents, the state Congress may introduce a dual system requiring hosts to secure both a state registration and municipal zoning permits before listing a property. 

Lawmakers could also limit the total number of nights a property can be rented annually to prevent investors from converting permanent housing stock into full-time hotels. Additionally, the state might require hosts to provide proof of commercial liability insurance and formal civil protection plans. This approach would meet the formal hotel sector’s primary demands while reducing the geographic concentration of rentals in Mérida.