Guides Demand Removal of Taxis from Marine Terminal

(Acapulco, AN 9 December) Tourist guides holding federal licenses have demanded that the Secretary of Transportation require the removal of taxis from the Marine Terminal in Acapulco, where the cruise ships dock. The Harbormaster (Port Authority) has the power to make such a regulation, but the Secretary of Transportation has jurisdiction over the taxi drivers by virtue of the licensing mechanism.

The tour guides specifically want to prohibit taxis associated with the “Coalition of Taxi-Interpreters,” as they are not accredited by SECTUR (the federal department of tourism), and represent unfair and unlawful competition to the licensed tour guides. The guides allege that the port authority is violating the law by letting unlicensed drivers and interpreters into the maritime terminal, which is on federal land. The unlicensed and unregulated guides have direct access to foreign tourists, with no incentive to be fair to the visitors and honest with them. As a result, tourists can feel exploited and harmed, thus injuring the international reputation of Acapulco, they argue.