Jamaica-Bound Travelers Will Be Forced to Pay $10 Tax from Mayday Onward

Beginning on May 1 this year, foreign tourists traveling to Jamaica by air will be bound to defray a mandatory $10 tax, authorities on the island announced earlier this week.

The new measure is part of a major plan devised by a blue-ribbon panel in an effort to clinch sustainable development in the local leisure industry, the island´s number-one income source.

On the other hand, those who hop on cruise liners will have to shell out a couple of bucks worth of tax.

In both cases, the money will be collected by several travel agents linked to the International Transport Association.

The initiative was announced by Jamaica´s Tourism Minister Aloun Assamba at the end of the parliamentary session that dealt with budget spending for the 2005-2006 fiscal year.

In response to some flak wielded by the local political opposition, the Jamaican Tourism Minister assured the tax will only be levied on sunbathers, not on hoteliers, domestic travelers and owners of recreational centers and tourist resorts.