On vacation in Guanajuato, I found some local attractions charge different fees for out-of-towners and locals. That may be common in tourist towns, but I don't remember seeing it before. Whatever the case, this seems like a formalization of taxi-drivers divining one's origins and setting the rate accordingly. In other words, though not the world's greatest injustice, it's completely unfair. More on Guanajuato and Mexican tourism here.
4 comments:
WelL! I think charging foreign tourists is a great idea, but foreigners who are resident here should pay somewhat less. But most importantly, Mexican citizens should get a rate that's less than that charged to any foreigner. Attractions like this are part of our patrimony. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
I don't live in a town where tourists typically hang out, and my feelings stem from the most selfish of motivations (the extra sixteen pesos I had to pay). I might well see it differently if I lived in Guanajuato. But the practice is pretty uncommon, right? And if the situation were reversed, and the Art Institute in Chicago charged Italians and Australians more than it charged locals, I'd have a hard time supporting that. It's a bit different here because Americans typically have more money than Mexicans, so you can either a) charge the two groups a different fee, b) charge everyone the same, but price the locals out of their city's attraction, or c) charge everyone the same, but undercharge the visitors, which would lead to the attraction underperforming in terms of revenue. No perfect solution there. Maybe you could charge everyone the same higher rate but give locals a semiweekly free day.
I just assume I get "gringo taxed" wherever I go in Latin America, but it's nice to see it formalized in writing.
It's certainly more direct than what we're used to. The silver lining here, at least there's a cap on it. Unlike cabs, where they can just start demanding 200 pesos after they have you at your destination.
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