Mexico’s congress votes to charge cruise ship passengers $42 per head for port calls

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Players in the cruise ship industry are up in arms after Mexico’s lower house of Congress voted this week to impose a $42 immigration tax on each passenger on cruise ships that dock in Mexico.

Moreover, two-thirds of the money raised would go to the Mexican military, not to improving port facilities.

The Mexican Association of Shipping Agents said the allegations could make Mexico uncompetitively expensive for cruise ships.

“If this measure is implemented, it would make Mexican ports of call among the most expensive in the world, which would seriously affect their competitiveness compared to other Caribbean destinations,” the association said in a statement.

The group urged Mexico’s Senate not to approve the measure, which calls for two-thirds of immigration fee revenue to be handed over to the country’s defense ministry, for unclear reasons.

In the past, passengers on cruise ships were exempted from immigration tax, because they sleep on the ships, and some do not even get off the ship during the port call. Apparently they will be charged $42 anyway, under the new budget bill.

There have been initiatives around the world to curb cruise ships for fear of over-tourism, but that train has long since left the station in the case of Mexico’s Caribbean coast. For years, Cozumel was the busiest port in the world, receiving around four million cruise passengers annually.

“It is necessary to eliminate the exemption from payment of immigration documents for foreign passengers entering Mexico on cruise ships,” the new law states.

Mexico’s ruling Morena party already runs huge budget deficits to fund pet construction projects such as railroads and oil refineries — some of which are being built by the military — and is desperate to find new sources of revenue.

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