On 26 July 2005 President Leonel Fernandez signed a decree adding a US$2.50 surcharge on regular and charter airfares to and from the Dominican Republic. This revenue will be applied to infrastructural improvements. The decree establishes that the surcharge comes into effect on 1 November. Sources within the tourism sector say that the surcharge is illegal because taxes can only be established by Congress.
The decree says the new fixed aviation charge will be managed by the Comite Ejecutor de Infraestructura de Zonas Turisticas, a committee appointed to implement infrastructure improvements in tourism zones. The decree says that the funds will be targeted at implementing infrastructural works and building complementary services in tourist areas according to the Plan General de Desarrollo de Infraestructuras en Zonas Turisticas, a general plan for the development of infrastructure in tourism zones. The decree specifies that the works to be carried out will be put out to tender.
The President names hotelier Marino Ginebra, of the Amhsa hotel chain, as a new committee member, replacing banker Alejandro Grullon Espaillat.
It instructs the Direccion General de Aeronautica Civil, the local civil aviation board, to be the entity responsible for collecting the funds generated by the fixed charge and delivering them directly to the Ministry of Tourism every month so that they may be deposited in the special tourism infrastructure fund.