Mexico to impose tax for cruise ship visitors starting in 2025

Mexican officials may be rocking the boat with visitors by introducing a new tourist tax.

A $42 immigration levy for every passenger on cruise ships that dock in Mexico was voted in by the country’s congress last week, The Associated Press reported. 

Stewart Chiron, a Miami-based cruise industry expert known as “The Cruise Guy,” told Fox News Digital that “the cruise industry and Mexico have enjoyed a very strong, beneficial relationship.”

Chiron says cruises contribute to the country’s economy with jobs, spending, taxes and port fees. 

“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 said. 

Roughly 16.9 million passengers from the U.S. cruised in 2023, according to the Cruise Lines International Association.

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 eliminate the ‘in-transit’ exemption status that has been in place for cruise passengers for over a decade impacts the livelihoods of tens of thousands of Mexican citizens, countless small businesses, and communities along Mexico’s coastlines that depend on cruise tourism,” Paige wrote in the letter, which was sent 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.”

The FCAA predicts the tax will make cruise tourism in Mexico 213% more expensive than the average Caribbean port, according to a press release.

“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 release said.

Out of the funds raised by the tax, about two-thirds would go to the Mexican army, according to the AP.

Other vacation destinations have recently implemented taxes or raised tourist taxes in recent months.

Greek officials 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, known for its clear waters and luxury resorts, has raised a flight tax aimed at tourists leaving the islands.