As of 1 May, Jamaica will now collect a US$10
'tourism enhancement fee' from all airline passengers and US$2 for cruiseship passengers. Hoteliers' GCT taxes will also increase.

oooh, how nice, .... one could equally call it entrance fee... :-)

It will be interesting to see if this head tax comes with an accounting of how the money is enhancing the product -- how and where -- especially since the Tourism Minister visited TB last summer.

I HOPE AND PRAY THIS EXTRA MONEY WILL ENHANCE THE ISLAND BY FIXING THE HORRIBLE ROADS.IT IS GOOD AND WELL TO SAY COME TO JAMAICA OUR BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY BUT, BE PREPARED TO HAVE THE RIDE OF YOUR LIFE TO YOUR DESTINATION OF CHOICE BY (DOGGING) POTHOLES.SHAME ON YOU.

This is in response to Visitor's posting of Saturday April 23rd. I agree with you that the roads need improvement and hopefully a portion of the monies collected will go to the upkeep of the roads. Having said that, I come from Boston (home of the BIG DIG, complete with leaky tunnels and a big headache for taxpayers)and I have to say that we are very used to roads with lots of pot holes and frost heaves (especially after this past winter) and many of them have yet to be fixed...if ever. I guess I do not find the road conditions as distressing as you do and I have come to look at it as an adventure in driving which requires a certain amount of skill to "dodge the ditches". I find that the drivers' from Treasure Beach are all quite adept at this game. Perhaps your next vacation should be in a location that has a full-fledged highway department with unlimited funds for road upkeep and improvement.

I think the "shame on you" was directed towards the authorities on the tourist board who market the country for its beauty, yet neglect to mention that you'll need to visit a chiropractor after a small road trip.

The ride is part of the fun getting there! We love it.

Respose to previous post, Not sure what ride you are talking about, to get you there. The discussion is limited to Transportation back and forth to the major airports, and driving around the Treasure Beach area.

Let us all be realistic here, the roads are terrible in need of fixing all over the Island and it is as simple as that.For the people who drive for a living i can only imagine the mechanical cost to up-keep their cars and trucks on a yearly income. .
When i posted that on april 23rd it was only for the good of the people of Jamaica and i hope my next visit will be just as enjoyable as the last one.Please understand DODGING THE DITCHES as the person from Boston mentioned is also a deadly concern just waiting for lives to be lost in head-on collisions.
We have bad roads in some parts of our country The United States but, at least the ones to and from the AIRPORTS are in pretty good conditions so at least do that for the visitors to your country so their first impressions would be a good and lasting one.

Imagine what would happen if you did not have those pot holes, to slow down some of those careless drivers. In England they built bunps to slow vehicles down, But in Jamaica the rain dig
holes to slow them down.
Think about it.

I was looking for a plane ticket, and USAir broke down the whole tax schedule for me during the process... I was stunned & amazed at all the taxes & fees...

Tax: US International Arrival $15.10
Tax: US International Departure $15.10
Tax: Jamaican Travel Tax $14.17
Fee: US Immigration $7.00
Fee: US Animal & Plant Health Inspection Svc. $5.00
Fee: US Passenger Facility Charge $10.50
September 11 Security Fee $7.50
Fee: Jamaican Int'l Airport Improvement Fee $5.00
Fee: Jamaican Passenger Service & Security Fee $8.80
Fee: Jamaican Tourism Enhancement Fee $10.00


I wonder how much money has been collected for the "Jamaican Tourism Enhancement fee" since 2005. Any visible differences seen anywhere?

I think the better question is what are we getting for the $60.2 collected by the US government in fees. US airports continue to have a terrible problem with departure delays,evident by Senator Chuck Schumer's(D-NY) recent activity to address this. I pay considerable US personal and business taxes but am again significantly taxed each time I take a flight from or within the US. JA collects $37.97 out of the listed fees and taxes and we have a beautiful much improved airport @ Mobay and several Tourist Board sponsored events that helps to keep tourism alive and bring revenue into the island's economy. I use "Discover Jamaica Road map" each time I'm in JA(3~4 times yearly), "Jamaica Tourist Board-At Your Service", this was gotten for free from the Consulate General Office in NYC. Although, I'm critical of government when needed, I don't think the JA government should be criticized for its fees but I think the US government should explain what it does with over $60 in fees.