Mexico beach towns say NO to cruise ships!!!

http://www.cdnn.info/industry/i040904/i040904.html

Mexico beach towns say NO to cruise ships
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by MARK STEVENSON


MEXICO CITY, Mexico (4 Sep 2004) -- A revolt is growing in the
Caribbean over increasingly massive cruise ships disgorging thousands
of passengers who swamp beach towns, buy perhaps a soda and a few
trinkets, and re-embark a few hours later.

Mexico's government is considering charging the country's first per-
passenger cruise tax, while beach towns that no longer want to serve as
a mere backdrop for the $15 billion cruise industry are beginning to
say no to the big ships.

Belize recently became one of the first nations to try to limit the
number of cruise ship passengers, capping them at 8,000 per day after
the tiny Caribbean nation was invaded by about 13,000 people
simultaneously - equivalent to a sudden 5 percent increase in the
country's population.

The movement has support from groups ranging from local hotel owners to
environmentalists who say the ships leave few benefits in their wake.
Discontent has been fed in part by the explosive growth in the number
of cruise passengers, whose numbers have tripled in Mexico in the last
decade.

Mexico's Tourism Secretariat submitted a proposal July 28 to charge
between $5 and $10 for each of the more than 5 million cruise
passengers who visit Mexico annually.

Other new tax proposals appear to be making headway in the rest of the
Caribbean, home to almost half of all the world's cruise voyages.

The Mexican tax proposal represents a victory for Playa del Carmen, a
Caribbean beach town that last year became one of the first ports in
the region to reject a cruise ship dock unless the industry paid a fee
for local development.

"There have been shows of support from other towns, and this position
is becoming generalized throughout the Caribbean," said Playa del
Carmen spokesman Angel Torres.

During a public comment period on Mexico's new cruise policy in 2003, a
tax to benefit local economies was one of the main demands of Caribbean
beach towns.

Playa del Carmen's mayor wanted to impose a head tax of $30 for each
passenger who used the proposed dock to come ashore at the nearby
resort of Xcaret.

Industry leader Carnival Cruise Lines, a partner in the Xcaret dock
project, brushed off the town's demands.

"It was a ridiculous amount of money," said Carnival spokesman Tim
Gallagher, who argues the companies already pay a significant amount in
local service charges.

However, in Mexico, those port fees go to private harbor management
companies - not local communities. And the stores that line cruise
docks are often owned or leased by the cruise companies themselves.

The industry appears ready to fight any increase, no matter how small.
It pressed Belize for a five-year moratorium on a proposed $2 increase
in its $5 passenger tax. Belize had planned to use the money to protect
its coral reefs and jungles.

The Xcaret dock project was finally put on hold, in hopes of better
times. But opposition hasn't waned.

The industry barely managed to beat back a 2003 proposal in the 32-
member Caribbean Tourism Organization, the CTO, to charge a uniform $20
cruise passenger tax to fund marketing for the region. That would be in
addition to the $3.50 to $5 local levies currently charged by many
Caribbean island nations.

Karen Ford Warner, the deputy secretary-general of the CTO, said she
believes negotiators will soon reach some sort of compromise with the
cruise lines, under which the companies will give the region cash,
training, or even promises to hire locally and buy local products.

"I think there is a strong feeling that the cruise lines have to make a
greater contribution," Ford Warner said. "The cruise industry realizes
and appreciates that they have to enter into a true partnership."

But the Mexican Ship Pilots' Union says cruise lines and the government
have conspired to begin eliminating one of the few locally hired
positions, in which pilots guide ships into dock. The government says
local pilots are no longer needed at the Pacific ports of Cabo San
Lucas, Huatulco and Zihuatanejo.

When taxes are proposed at one port, cruise operators talk about
switching to another where costs are lower, something that may have
played a part in Mexico's decision to charge less than the CTO's
proposed $20 levy.

Environmentalists have long been opposed to the giant cruise vessels,
saying they dump oil and refuse at sea and have been known to run
roughshod over coral reefs.

In Belize, hundreds of passengers land on tiny coral-strewn islets off
the coast, and residents say it's almost impossible to police crowds
that trample the coral.

However, some of the opposition to cruise ships also involves snobbery.
Long a luxury destination, some in the Caribbean don't want the kind of
working-class tourists who often take cruise vacations for as little as
$500 per week.

Some use the dismissive term "cruceritos" - little cruisers - to
describe the less affluent clientele.

"They don't have the same purchasing power," said Torres, of Playa del
Carmen. "Many come over in third- or fourth-class, so far below decks
they never see the sun."

Ana Patricia Morales of the Quintana Roo Hotel Association says there
are valid reasons for locals to dislike cruises.

"A hotel makes a commitment to a community," she said. "It buys
supplies there and hires people there. A cruise ship doesn't do any of
those things."

Carnival's Gallagher counters his industry shouldn't be forced to
subsidize local hotels. "I don't think taxing one industry is how you
make another one competitive," he said.

SOURCE - Miami Herald

All they'd have to do is label it as a "tip", instead of a tax, and
nobody here would complain. ;-) ...Jon

Simple solution... BOYCOT MEXICO. See how long it is before they cry "COME
BACK!".


"steinbrenner" wrote in message
news:cG9uZGVydGU=.2a87d7d83a851ac08b517bfb60066894 @1094537253.nulluser.com...
http://www.cdnn.info/industry/i040904/i040904.html

Mexico beach towns say NO to cruise ships
Powered by CDNN - CYBER DIVER News Network
by MARK STEVENSON


MEXICO CITY, Mexico (4 Sep 2004) -- A revolt is growing in the
Caribbean over increasingly massive cruise ships disgorging thousands
of passengers who swamp beach towns, buy perhaps a soda and a few
trinkets, and re-embark a few hours later.

Mexico's government is considering charging the country's first per-
passenger cruise tax, while beach towns that no longer want to serve as
a mere backdrop for the $15 billion cruise industry are beginning to
say no to the big ships.

Belize recently became one of the first nations to try to limit the
number of cruise ship passengers, capping them at 8,000 per day after
the tiny Caribbean nation was invaded by about 13,000 people
simultaneously - equivalent to a sudden 5 percent increase in the
country's population.

The movement has support from groups ranging from local hotel owners to
environmentalists who say the ships leave few benefits in their wake.
Discontent has been fed in part by the explosive growth in the number
of cruise passengers, whose numbers have tripled in Mexico in the last
decade.

Mexico's Tourism Secretariat submitted a proposal July 28 to charge
between $5 and $10 for each of the more than 5 million cruise
passengers who visit Mexico annually.

Other new tax proposals appear to be making headway in the rest of the
Caribbean, home to almost half of all the world's cruise voyages.

The Mexican tax proposal represents a victory for Playa del Carmen, a
Caribbean beach town that last year became one of the first ports in
the region to reject a cruise ship dock unless the industry paid a fee
for local development.

"There have been shows of support from other towns, and this position
is becoming generalized throughout the Caribbean," said Playa del
Carmen spokesman Angel Torres.

During a public comment period on Mexico's new cruise policy in 2003, a
tax to benefit local economies was one of the main demands of Caribbean
beach towns.

Playa del Carmen's mayor wanted to impose a head tax of $30 for each
passenger who used the proposed dock to come ashore at the nearby
resort of Xcaret.

Industry leader Carnival Cruise Lines, a partner in the Xcaret dock
project, brushed off the town's demands.

"It was a ridiculous amount of money," said Carnival spokesman Tim
Gallagher, who argues the companies already pay a significant amount in
local service charges.

However, in Mexico, those port fees go to private harbor management
companies - not local communities. And the stores that line cruise
docks are often owned or leased by the cruise companies themselves.

The industry appears ready to fight any increase, no matter how small.
It pressed Belize for a five-year moratorium on a proposed $2 increase
in its $5 passenger tax. Belize had planned to use the money to protect
its coral reefs and jungles.

The Xcaret dock project was finally put on hold, in hopes of better
times. But opposition hasn't waned.

The industry barely managed to beat back a 2003 proposal in the 32-
member Caribbean Tourism Organization, the CTO, to charge a uniform $20
cruise passenger tax to fund marketing for the region. That would be in
addition to the $3.50 to $5 local levies currently charged by many
Caribbean island nations.

Karen Ford Warner, the deputy secretary-general of the CTO, said she
believes negotiators will soon reach some sort of compromise with the
cruise lines, under which the companies will give the region cash,
training, or even promises to hire locally and buy local products.

"I think there is a strong feeling that the cruise lines have to make a
greater contribution," Ford Warner said. "The cruise industry realizes
and appreciates that they have to enter into a true partnership."

But the Mexican Ship Pilots' Union says cruise lines and the government
have conspired to begin eliminating one of the few locally hired
positions, in which pilots guide ships into dock. The government says
local pilots are no longer needed at the Pacific ports of Cabo San
Lucas, Huatulco and Zihuatanejo.

When taxes are proposed at one port, cruise operators talk about
switching to another where costs are lower, something that may have
played a part in Mexico's decision to charge less than the CTO's
proposed $20 levy.

Environmentalists have long been opposed to the giant cruise vessels,
saying they dump oil and refuse at sea and have been known to run
roughshod over coral reefs.

In Belize, hundreds of passengers land on tiny coral-strewn islets off
the coast, and residents say it's almost impossible to police crowds
that trample the coral.

However, some of the opposition to cruise ships also involves snobbery.
Long a luxury destination, some in the Caribbean don't want the kind of
working-class tourists who often take cruise vacations for as little as
$500 per week.

Some use the dismissive term "cruceritos" - little cruisers - to
describe the less affluent clientele.

"They don't have the same purchasing power," said Torres, of Playa del
Carmen. "Many come over in third- or fourth-class, so far below decks
they never see the sun."

Ana Patricia Morales of the Quintana Roo Hotel Association says there
are valid reasons for locals to dislike cruises.

"A hotel makes a commitment to a community," she said. "It buys
supplies there and hires people there. A cruise ship doesn't do any of
those things."

Carnival's Gallagher counters his industry shouldn't be forced to
subsidize local hotels. "I don't think taxing one industry is how you
make another one competitive," he said.

SOURCE - Miami Herald

On 09/07/2004 3:30 AM , committed frenium gestures
and then wrote:

All they'd have to do is label it as a "tip", instead of a tax, and
nobody here would complain. ;-) ...Jon



I've done land based vacations in Playa del Carmen. Part of this town's
charm is that it is not over run with us tourist folks like Cancun or
Cozumel. I've stayed in Key West, FL and seen the difference between
days when cruise ships are in town and when they aren't. Even in high
season it's a more reasonable crowd level when the cruise ships aren't
in town.

Tendering might be a compromise of sorts. It limits the number of folks
in port at any given moment by the number that can fit comfortably into
a tender. Playa has the right idea about a per captia tax. Only
change the nomenclature to calling it an "Admission Ticket". We US folk
are used to paying those for admission to see "The Mouse", 6-Flags or
Busch Gardens.

--
________
To email me, Edit "xt" from my email address.
Brian M. Kochera
"Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once!"
View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951

"SAM" bellowed:

Simple solution... BOYCOT MEXICO. See how long it is before they cry "COME
BACK!"

That pot you like to smoke doesn't seem to have had the effect of chilling you
out...

Personally, I 'm happy to pay a passenger "tax" or whatever else if it helps
out the poor countries we visit while cruising.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------
Pot Smoking in the Caribbean
From: (SAM)

Sailing the Eastern Caribbean route soon, is there any place you can
legally buy pot and smoke it???

On Tue, 07 Sep 2004 18:19:09 GMT, SAM wrote:

For the record I don't smoke Pot... was thinking about trying it only.

Do not inhale.

rtcrefereee. I couldn't agree more. Some areas of Mexico are real jewels.
Sadly many have seen nothing more than Cancun, Cozumel and Tiajuana. After two
portcalls to Progreso I needed to see more of Merida and the Yucatan and
returned for an 8 day stay. Merida is certainly Mexico at it's finest and
thankfully not ruined by over touristing such as the other cities I mentioned.
I will be returning to Merida for 2 wks next year.

On 07 Sep 2004 20:44:58 GMT, RTCReferee wrote:

I am a traveler first, a cruiser second. I want the countries we visit to
prosper after we have left as well as while we are there.

Ever been to Transylvannia?

On 07 Sep 2004 20:44:58 GMT, RTCReferee wrote:

I am a traveler first, a cruiser second. I want the countries we visit to
prosper after we have left as well as while we are there.

Ever been to Transylvannia?

Chrissy Cruiser wrote:

Ever been to Transylvannia?

No, I've never been to Transylvania.

I'll bet it's something you could really sink your teeth into, though. ;-)