Mexican officers could also be rocking the boat with visitors by introducing a brand new vacationer tax.
A $42 immigration levy for each passenger on cruise ships that dock in Mexico was voted in by the nation’s congress final week, The Associated Press reported.
Stewart Chiron, a Miami-based cruise trade professional generally known as “The Cruise Guy,” instructed Fox News Digital that “the cruise industry and Mexico have enjoyed a very strong, beneficial relationship.”
FLIGHT PASSENGERS VISITING THIS VACATION SPOT WILL HAVE TO PAY A FEE JUST TO LEAVE THE ISLANDS
Chiron says cruises contribute to the nation’s economic system with jobs, spending, taxes and port charges.
Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association CEO Michele Paige wrote a letter to the president of Mexico opposing the tax. (iStock)
“Cruise lines, unlike hotels, are able to move their ships. I’m sure cruise industry executives are working to set up meetings to work toward an amicable solution,” Chiron added.
“I would think cruise passengers would voice an opinion to skip Mexico in lieu of a $42 fee hike,” he stated.
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Roughly 16.9 million passengers from the U.S. cruised in 2023, in accordance to the Cruise Lines International Association.
Mexican officers are planning to implement a $42 immigration levy for each passenger on cruise ships that dock in Mexico. (iStock)
Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) CEO Michele Paige penned a letter to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, expressing her disappointment and concern.
“The Government’s plan to eradicate the ‘in-transit’ exemption standing that has been in place for cruise passengers for over a decade impacts the livelihoods of tens of hundreds of Mexican residents, numerous small companies, and communities alongside Mexico’s coastlines that rely on cruise tourism,” Paige wrote in the letter, which was despatched by the FCCA to Fox News Digital.
Paige added, “Cruise lines will inevitably reevaluate the viability of these investments considering the potential loss of consumer demand for Mexico cruises driven by the unprecedented tax increase on cruise tourism.”
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The FCAA predicts the tax will make cruise tourism in Mexico 213% costlier than the typical Caribbean port, in accordance to a press launch.
Roughly 16.9 million passengers from the U.S. cruised in 2023. (michaeljung by way of Getty Images)
“The additional per-person proposed tax, combined with existing taxes and fees, is a cost that cannot be easily absorbed by most cruise guests,” the discharge stated.
Out of the funds raised by the tax, about two-thirds would go to the Mexican military, in accordance to the AP.
Other trip locations have just lately applied taxes or raised vacationer taxes in latest months.
Greek officers are planning to impose a $22 tax for visitors cruising to Santorini or Mykonos, Fox News Digital reported in September.
And the Maldives in South Asia, identified for its clear waters and luxurious resorts, has raised a flight tax geared toward vacationers leaving the islands.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
