Roberto Alejos, President of the Congress, explained that on Thursday they will introduce an urgent process to suspend this tax.
Representatives from the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA), composed of 15 cruise lines which operate over 100 vessels, visited Guatemala and met with President Alvaro Colom.
They also wanted to know the status of the various cruise ship terminals and what is the security situation of the country, reported Prensalibre.com.
Source: prensalibre.com
More on this topic
March 2010
A discussion to impose a $10 levy to cruise ship tourists is back in Congress.
Back in November 2009, Legislative Decree 38-2009 suspended the collection of this tax, but President Álvaro Colom vetoed such decree.
More recently, the Constitutional Court (CC) ruled that it is not against the constitution to suspend collection of the tax. This has caused the discussion to go back to Congress.
October 2010
The suspension of the tax was made official on Tuesday by Congressional act.
Representatives of the Guatemalan Association of Cruise Tourism and the Institute of Tourism saw the move as positive to improve their competitiveness with other destinations.
Leonel Azurdia of the Association of Cruise Tourism, told Prensalibre.com that "the suspension of the tax, which was formalized last Tuesday by a congressional, gives legal certainty to attract more ships."
May 2009
Cruise ships promise a 40% increase in visits to the country if an agreement is reached not to collect the $10 per visitor departure tax.
The $10 per visitor departure tax fee was scheduled for implementation in January 2009. However, due to pressure from cruise ship companies that Guatemala would be removed from the list of destinations, implementation had been postponed until May 1.
November 2009
Congress passed a decree waiving a $10 tax for tourists from cruise ships.
It applies to visitors staying less than 72 hours in the country.
Roberto Robles, director of the Guatemalan Tourism Institute, argues that the cruise ship industry is growing in the country, and that it provides economic benefits for the country in the short, mid, and long term, as it provides employment for craftsmen and promotes internal tourism.
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