Mexico’s Senate has voted to charge cruise ship passengers $42 per head for port calls, drawing sharp criticism from the tourism industry. Mexican business chambers say the immigration charge – from which cruise passengers used to be exempt – may hurt the country’s half-billion-dollar-per-year cruise industry.

The measure, approved last week, was to go into effect Jan. 1, 2025, but has been deferred to July 1. The changes were part of a bill that also increases airport immigration charges and entry fees for nature reserves.

Mexico’s Caribbean coast is home to Cozumel, the busiest port of call for cruise ships in the world.

The Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) says that under the new policy, cruise passengers will face the additional charge on top of the current average of US$20 (408 Mexican pesos) in other taxes and fees required to visit Mexican port, which would mean cruise tourism in Mexico would suddenly become 213% more expensive than the average Caribbean port, effectively pricing Mexican ports out of the cruise market.

“The concept, for example, of a family of four visiting a Mexican cruise port having to pay an additional $168 in fees for just a few hours ashore, while tourists crossing the border by land who visit for seven days or less remain exempt from this tax, will have far reaching impacts,” said the FCCA, which warns that “placing such a burden on cruise tourists with minimal time actually spent in Mexico will deter visitors, alter cruise itineraries, and create economic ripple effects in communities that heavily rely on cruise tourism.”

“The abrupt decision was made without consultation or input from the cruise industry and leaves cruise lines no time to prepare guests for the added expense as the majority of 2025 sailings are already booked,” it added.

The National Confederation of Commerce, Service and Tourism Chambers said the US$42 charges could make other countries’ Caribbean ports more competitive than Mexico’s.

“This could result in a significant decrease in visitors,” added Octavio de la Torre, the president of the National Confederation of Commerce, Service and Tourism Chambers.

In the past, cruise ship passengers were exempted from the immigration fee, because they slept aboard the vessels and some didn’t even get off the ship during port calls. Now, even those people would apparently be charged the $42 fee, according to the new law.

There have been initiatives throughout the world to curb cruise ships for fear of over-tourism, but that train left the station long ago in the case of Mexico’s Caribbean coast. Cozumel has been the world’s busiest port of call for years, welcoming about four million cruise passengers per year.

The Mexican Association of Shipping Agents has also cried foul, stating, “If this measure is implemented, it would make Mexican ports of call among the most expensive in the world, severely affecting their competitiveness with other Caribbean destinations.”

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