Cancun Airport Eliminates Controversial Fee

Officials in Cancun, Mexico are reversing a controversial tourist tax that has been making headlines over the last month.

Tourists travelling to Mexico have been reporting being charged duty fees for bringing more than one electronic device into the country. This appears to have been most common at Cancun International Airport.

Elite Travel President Tammy Levent shared her experience last month via Travel Pulse. When travelling to the country for a work event in June, she was charged $170 for bringing in a laptop and an iPad. Journalist Joni Sweet wrote a piece in Forbes about a friend who was charged $190 for having a MacBook and an iPad.

Many others have taken to forums like Reddit to share their frustration of being charged a surprise duty on personal devices – with those unwilling or unable to pay being threatened with having the electronics confiscated.

Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama announced in a Facebook video today that tourists passing through Cancun International Airport will no longer be charged a fee, effective immediately.

“We managed to eliminate the charge for bringing more than one computer or electronic tablet into your personal luggage, within the #Cancun International Airport, with the support of Mexican Customs,” Lezama said on the Facebook post.

In the video, Lezama states that the customs policy was updated following a roundtable discussion with Agencia Nacional de Aduanas de México (National Customs Agency of Mexico) about the fee and how it “affected our destination’s image.”

“We are thankful to the authorities for their sensibility and for listening with the goal to adapt to this new era, and beginning today, this charge has been eliminated for both National and International travelers.”