Quintana Roo Governor Promises to Regulate Cancun Airport Taxi Rides

A viral video is once again shedding light on the risks faced by unprepared travelers at Cancun International Airport in Quintana Roo.

According to the video, which can be viewed in full here, a group of American travelers were charged 1,000,000 pesos (over $4,800 USD or $6,900 CAD) for a 74-mile taxi ride between Cancun International Airport and their Airbnb in Tulum.

In the video, the speaker, who is fluent in Spanish, describes how the driver insisted they pay upfront in cash, claiming there would be no internet in Tulum for a digital transfer. After gathering the cash, the group asked the driver to stop at a convenience store, which the driver said would cost an additional 2,000 pesos.

This video is far from the first report of tourists being overcharged for taxis at the airport. Last year, a Canadian traveler reported being charged $1,000 CAD for a ride from Terminal 4 to Terminal 3 at the airport before the taxi nearly sped away with his luggage still in the car.

There was also another video by Lusito Comunica, a Mexican content creator who is the second most subscribed to in Mexico at 34 million followers, where he complained about being charged 2,000 pesos for a taxi ride from the airport to the Cancun Hotel Zone. 

Following the latest video, Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama this week described these practices as a “scourge” on the tourism sector that drives the Quintana Roo economy. She said the government is working with local groups to better regulate taxi rides.

“All excessive charges hurt the destinations and when you hurt the destinations, you hurt the citizens, and the most important thing in this state is tourism,” Lezema said, according to Riviera Maya News. 

While travel advisors have relied on DMCs like Amstar or other private transportation options in Cancun for this clients, the government has targeted the taxi and ride-hailing industry with legislation before—a law that went into effect in April of last year was supposed to make things safer by requiring Cancun drivers use taximeters, and the government has said it’s mulling several different options to make things safer, and clearer, for tourists.