New (Additional) Tourist Tax

[DandyDon]

And if the extra $80 somehow helps the citizens of QR, all the better.

You trust the QR government? How quaint.

 

[living4experiences]

I find it interesting from an earlier post about this new fee that the Mexican government has seen such a boom in tourism that this tourist tax is necessary. Their short-sided assessment fails to consider that as soon as the rest of the Caribbean and beyond opens up again, the divers and tourists will be going elsewhere. Americans can dive in very few places with little hassle right now, such as the Bahamas and Mexico, so they're getting all of our tourism dollars.

Having just returned from Cozumel, the current fees include the increased marine park fee of $4.50 per day (roughly 5% on a $90 2-tank dive), 16% sales tax, sanitation tax at the hotel of $1.50 per day (formerly called the environmental tax). Other fees also include pier pickup fees of $1-$4 per person and some dive ops charge a 3% credit card fee. And soon to be tacked onto all that is this $11 tourism tax. When I use award airline miles for travel to Mexico, the departure tax is $76 that has to be paid out of pocket. That's a heck of a lot of fees for just meh diving. I found the quality of the reef and the day diving to be very disappointing and boring. I enjoyed the night diving much more. From this experience and a couple of other things that happened on this trip, I will never return to Cozumel.

 

[DandyDon]

some dive ops charge a 3% credit card fee.

That one I understand. It costs them 3% to take the card so honestly, if something in that price range is sold with cards accepted, I used to ask for a cash discount. Nowadays I get 2% back so I skip that. My favorite op used to eat the 3%, but I talked him into developing other payment options like Zelle and charging the 3% if they insist on using a card.

The rest of your post is right on. Just too much greed and too many add-ons.

From this experience and a couple of other things that happened on this trip

Sorry you had bad experiences, but now I have to ask. What happened?

 

[ReefHound]

Mexican government: we want to collect an extra $40 from you for your week here ($4.50 per day marine park fee, $11 departure tax.)

Some people: this is outrageous

US government: we want you to take a covid test, which costs about $40, before you get on the plane to come home.

Same people: oh, yeah, that's a good idea. Gotta stay safe.

I'm heading to Coz April 10, so I get to pay for both. I'm still getting a heck of a deal... our week of diving, dining and siestas will still be under $1500 pp, including airfare. And if the extra $80 somehow helps the citizens of QR, all the better.

One of them may go away in a few months and may never ever affect the more cautious traveler, while one of them will last forever and probably increase over time.

 

[rick00001967]

I find it interesting from an earlier post about this new fee that the Mexican government has seen such a boom in tourism that this tourist tax is necessary. Their short-sided assessment fails to consider that as soon as the rest of the Caribbean and beyond opens up again, the divers and tourists will be going elsewhere. Americans can dive in very few places with little hassle right now, such as the Bahamas and Mexico, so they're getting all of our tourism dollars.

Having just returned from Cozumel, the current fees include the increased marine park fee of $4.50 per day (roughly 5% on a $90 2-tank dive), 16% sales tax, sanitation tax at the hotel of $1.50 per day (formerly called the environmental tax). Other fees also include pier pickup fees of $1-$4 per person and some dive ops charge a 3% credit card fee. And soon to be tacked onto all that is this $11 tourism tax. When I use award airline miles for travel to Mexico, the departure tax is $76 that has to be paid out of pocket. That's a heck of a lot of fees for just meh diving. I found the quality of the reef and the day diving to be very disappointing and boring. I enjoyed the night diving much more. From this experience and a couple of other things that happened on this trip, I will never return to Cozumel.

this is a spot on for the most part.
i even agree about the diving. yes there are some beautiful spots further south with some amazing coral formations. but over all, the diving is not as great as many make it out to be.
i also agree that the night diving (even on shallow shore dives) can be a lot more interesting.
i am not sure i would go so far as to say i would "never" return there though. but it certainly has us looking at other options.
someone mentioned above that "we are still getting a heck of a deal". and i completely understand why some will ignore increased costs if the price is still considered to be a "good deal".
but i would caution people on using this mentality. this is exactly why foreign travel expenses and property ownership (just for example) has become so expensive in some areas.

if we compare costs to where we live (toronto, vancouver, LA, NY etc) instead of what the costs should be based on that particular countries economy, then your perception of the value is skewed.
so if we all continue to accept the new norm. it will only further drive the costs higher.

for example.....if you have ever spent time in playa del carmen, you know that certain areas have much higher costs than others. why ? because dumb tourists are stupid enough to pay the higher prices in those areas. why would you pay $5usd for a beer at one place when you can get it for $1 at another ? because "at home" that $5 might be normal, thats why. but in reality, that price is absurdly inflated compared to what the real cost should be in that location.

when paying for goods and services, ask yourself this......would a local resident pay this ?

housing costs.....some property on the mainland sells for 300 or even 400 per sq foot. do you think an average mexican national would ever pay that ? of course not. it is only us stupid foreigners that would even consider it. "but in miami this condo would cost me $1 million."

news flash....YOU ARE NOT IN MIAMI DUMB ASS !! (no offense to anyone from miami haha)

i am sure coz is the same in many examples. you only need to look at how prices some how miraculously change when a bunch of cruise ships are in port.
st maarten is the same. when you shop on the main boardwalk, the first thing you tell the merchant is that you are NOT one of the cruise ship passengers, and that you are here for 2 weeks. somehow now the price is cut in half. sometimes to a third.

sorry for the rant. i had some time on my hands. i will shut up now.

 

[ReefHound]

I find it interesting from an earlier post about this new fee that the Mexican government has seen such a boom in tourism that this tourist tax is necessary. Their short-sided assessment fails to consider that as soon as the rest of the Caribbean and beyond opens up again, the divers and tourists will be going elsewhere. Americans can dive in very few places with little hassle right now, such as the Bahamas and Mexico, so they're getting all of our tourism dollars.

That's a good point about other places being closed and Mexico making assessments based on it's short term "monopoly". Or maybe "advantage" is a better term. When the rest of the Caribbean opens up, there might be a sharp drop in Mexico visitors for awhile as people are "Mexico'ed out" and wanting to check out these other places where the reefs have been given a 12-24 month period of relief. I was in Coz twice in 2020 for three weeks. I'm here now for 17 days and likely will be back again in 2021. But it's very possible I won't get here in 2022 as I have a lot of other places that have backlogged on my travel list.

 

[living4experiences]

That one I understand. It costs them 3% to take the card so honestly, if something in that price range is sold with cards accepted, I used to ask for a cash discount. Nowadays I get 2% back so I skip that. My favorite op used to eat the 3%, but I talked him into developing other payment options like Zelle and charging the 3% if they insist on using a card.

The rest of your post is right on. Just too much greed and too many add-ons.


Sorry you had bad experiences, but now I have to ask. What happened?

I will post my experiences in a new thread soon.

 

[gopbroek]

Now that several weeks have gone by has anyone flown out recently and could they give an update on the QR tax collection at the airports. Are the planned kiosks in place and working?

 

[formernuke]

I think the US should implement a reciprocal tax collection against these countries which add taxes to tourists from the US. We should charge the same tax which is fleeced from our tourists and apply it to the citizens from those countries to pay the same amount when entering the US. Lots of Covid relief and infrastructure projects need funding.

10 dollar crossing illegally tax.

 

[gopbroek]

10 dollar crossing illegally tax.

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