Angry Puerto Vallarta tourism service providers, business owners, merchants and transport workers took to the street this week to protest a new federal tax on cruise ship passengers approved by the Chamber of Deputies.
Approximately 100 demonstrators gathered outside the National Port System Administration (ASIPONA) office in Puerto Vallarta to oppose the US$42 per passenger tax set to take effect in January 2025.
The tax stems from an amendment to the Federal Rights Law that eliminates the Non-Immigrant Fee (DNI) waiver for disembarking cruise ship passengers. Tourism sector representatives have warned that this change will significantly harm both the local and national economy.
Traditionally, the DNI fee has been waived for cruise passengers to encourage tourism and boost economic activity in port cities. However, with the US$42 fee—equivalent to around 860 pesos per passenger—Mexican ports will become 213 percent more expensive than competing destinations, according to cruise industry associations.
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