Comptroller reveals that 68% of nautical tourism businesses operate outside the law
The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico (OCPR) issued a qualified opinion on the operations of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company related to the nautical tourism industry. A qualified opinion is issued when the noncompliances, individually or together, are significant but not pervasive.
The report reveals that 68% of the nautical tourism businesses examined continue to provide services despite not having a valid Tourist Activity Certification as of March 27, 2025. This situation, which is attributed to the lack of personnel at the Tourism Company to carry out the necessary inspections, generates unfair competition with the operators who do comply with the current law and regulations.
The audit, with three findings, also notes multiple deficiencies with the registry of nautical tourism businesses. The auditors identified expired certifications registered as regular and conditional certifications that were expired, in 28% of the files examined. In addition, the Company does not maintain a public registry of the businesses dedicated to nautical tourism activities and of the tourist marinas as required by the Nautical Tourism Act of 2010 (Act 241-2010).
During a visit to the Office of Services and Oversight of the Tourism Company, it was verified that the archive lacks a designated custodian, does not have a registry of the persons with access and the documents were loose in the files. This situation leads to the disappearance of documents and affects the planning, investment and development of nautical tourism businesses.
The audited financial statements reflected that the Tourism Company had revenue of $377.4 million, and spent $264.6 million from 2022 to 2023.
This report is a compliance audit of specific scope, which means that it addresses one or two matters in an established period of time. This report covers the period from July 1, 2021 to January 31, 2025
.
The Audit Report OC-25-79 can be obtained on our website: www.ocpr.gov.pr.
Some documents on this page are saved in PDF format.
To view these documents, you must have the following free program installed.
