PUI Law in Quintana Roo: from a Tulum hotel to a Playa del Carmen short rental
Quintana Roo holds some of Mexico’s most visited destinations: Cancun, the Riviera Maya, Playa del Carmen and Tulum. That means an enormous variety of lodging, from resorts to short-rental apartments. The federal PUI Law applies to all of them alike. Here we explain what it requires and how it affects the state’s diverse accommodations.
An entire tourist state under the same federal obligation
PUI (the Single Identity Platform) comes from the General Law on Enforced Disappearance of Persons (LGMDFP). Its Article 12 Bis requires every lodging establishment to register guest identity and connect to the federal platform; its Article 43 Bis penalizes non-compliance with a fine of 10,000 to 20,000 UMA per infraction (roughly $1.17 to $2.35 million pesos). The purpose is to help locate people reported missing.
Quintana Roo is arguably the state with the most tourist lodging in the country in proportion: large resorts in the Riviera Maya, boutique hotels in Tulum, hostels in Playa del Carmen and an ocean of short-rental apartments across the Mexican Caribbean. The strength of the PUI Law is that it makes no distinction: the same federal rule applies to the thousand-room resort and the studio rented by the night.
The same law for every lodging type in the state
The obligation doesn’t change by format; how you meet it in each operation does.
Resorts and hotels
Large operations in the Riviera Maya and Cancun: they register each guest’s identity, domestic or foreign, at check-in.
Short and vacation rentals
Apartments by the night and vacation homes in Playa del Carmen or Tulum are required too: renting by the night is lodging.
High international flow
The Mexican Caribbean welcomes many foreigners: passport or migratory form (FMM) plus nationality, as the law provides.
The Mexican Caribbean’s short rentals comply too
A common mistake in destinations like Tulum or Playa del Carmen is to believe the PUI Law is "only for big hotels". It isn’t. Article 12 Bis applies to ALL lodging, and the Article 43 Bis fine makes no distinction between a chain and a host with one or two apartments. If you charge to host, you’re required.
Given the huge amount of informal and short-rental inventory in Quintana Roo, this point is especially sensitive: many small operators don’t know the obligation already reaches them. Capturing identity in an orderly way starting today is what prevents a bigger problem later.