THE Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) and Cebu Pacific (Cebu Air, Inc.) have agreed to integrate the Philippine travel tax in the tickets booked through the airline’s Web site and mobile application.
TIEZA Chief Operating Officer and General Manager Pocholo J.D. Paragas and Cebu Pacific Vice-President for Corporate Affairs JR Mantaring signed on Tuesday a memorandum of agreement to include the P1,620 travel tax in Cebu Pacific fares.
“The passengers can now go directly, when you have Web check-in, you can go directly if you don’t have check-in baggage. We want to provide seamless travel,” Mr. Mantaring told reporters.
The travel tax is required under Republic Act No. 9593 or the Tourism Act of 2009. 50% of the travel tax collection will be given to TIEZA, while 40% is allotted for the Commission on Higher Education for tourism-related educational programs, and the remainder will be given to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
Passengers traveling abroad previously had to pay the travel tax separately at the TIEZA counters in airports before checking in. — Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo
