MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Cruise ship industry players are up in arms after the lower house of Mexico's Congress voted to charge a $42 immigration levy for every cruise passenger in Mexico.
Two-thirds of the money raised, moreover, would go to the Mexican army, not to improve port facilities.
The Mexican Association of Shipping Agents cried foul on Thursday, saying the charge could make Mexico uncompetitively expensive for cruise ships.
"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," the association said in a statement.
The group called on Mexico's Senate not to approve the measure, which calls for two-thirds of the income from the immigration charge to be handed over to the country's defense department, for reasons that are unclear.
In the past, cruise ship passengers had been exempted from the immigration fee, because they sleep aboard the vessels and some don't even get off the ship during port calls. They would apparently be charged the $42 fee anyway, according to the new budget law.
There have been initiatives throughout the world to curb cruise ships for fear of overtourism, 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 4 million cruise passengers per year.