The Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association has yet to convince the Mexican government to abandon its plan to levy a $42 per-person tax on cruise passengers, but the head of the organization said she is "very optimistic" the charge will not go into effect.
Michele Paige, CEO of the FCCA, said she met with Quintana Roo Gov. Mara Lezama Espinosa Feb. 24, who she said was receptive to information about the impact of the cruise industry in Mexico and had agreed to relay its importance to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
At issue is the government's decision to remove the cruise industry's "in-transit" status that has exempted cruisers from the $42 head tax levied against international visitors who arrive by plane. The tax is expected to be applied to cruise ship visitors starting July 1.
The industry has been pushing back since it learned about the tax right before Thanksgiving, Paige said. Carnival Corp. CEO Josh Weinstein said during the company's Q4 earnings call that it had been in discussions with government officials about the tax and was expecting further discussions about the benefits that cruising brings to Mexico.
The governor "has assured us, and I'm going to quote her, that she will solve this," Paige said Monday. Paige added that Lezama Espinosa "said that she'd already spoken to the president twice and that she's going to make sure that she delivers the message to the president and that the president understands the importance of getting back our in-transit status. So that's why I'm very optimistic."
Cruise lines are expected to bring 10 million cruisers to Mexico this year and deliver $1 billion in economic impact, she said. Paige added that government officials did not understand cruises were sold 18 to 24 months in advance.
Despite that economic impact, Paige said cruise lines could do more to help the country. For example, cruise lines can hire more people from Mexico, do more purchasing from Mexico and do a better job of promoting the country.
She said she could not speak for cruise lines about how they might change their itineraries or development plans should the tax stick, but she did not rule it out.
"This is going to make Mexico 283% more expensive than any other port," she said. "All I can say is that I'm sure that everything is on the table."
The tax would be charged once per person, regardless of how many times the itinerary includes calls in Mexico, she said. That means a family of four would pay an additional $168 for an itinerary that calls in that country.