Tourism Minister explains new Carnival contract…
It was a contract that had all the appearances of a giveaway to Carnival Cruise Lines. But after some hard bargaining by the Minister of Tourism and constant pressure from the Belize Tourism Industry Association and other groups, that agreement has been modified…at least to the point where the more offensive clauses have been removed. News 5 saw a copy of the “clarification agreement” this morning and asked Minster of Tourism Mark Espat to explain the changes.
Mark Espat, Minister of Tourism
"The basic elements of the agreement are firstly, to make the Belize
Tourism Board a party to the agreement and to recognize its regulatory role
as the chief overseer from the public sector standpoint of the tourism industry
including the cruise sector. But there are other important elements as well.
It addresses the issue of hiring Belizeans, Belizean companies, Belizean
individuals and ensuring that we get jobs out of the project. Secondly,
it addresses the issue of the head tax; moving forward by four months the
increase in the head tax from five to seven dollars, which is an important
source of revenue for the B.T.B. as well as for the Protected Areas Conservation
Trust. For the private sector it importantly recognizes that there will
be daily limits on cruise passengers. Though those limits will be imposed
for environmental and for archaeological reasons–that there is a process
for putting in place those daily limits according to our cruise tourism
policy. It commits Carnival to following, abiding by the laws and regulations
of Belize specifically the tourism laws. And I also believe it commits them
to a licensing process where they have to apply for their licenses. It also
provides for a minimum number of passengers that they commit to bring each
year. So that?s a very important thing for the Belizean Cruise Tourism Stakeholders,
who know that for the next twenty to thirty years they will have at least
half a million Carnival Line?s passengers coming to Belize."
"It?s a dream scenario for Belize where we have the two largest
cruise ship companies in the world, Carnival and Royal Caribbean, making
actual investments in the ground, signalling their long-term commitment.
We need to work with the private sector to ensure that that dream scenario
does not turn to a nightmare for us, which is what we have been trying
to do in the process of renegotiation. So I really think that we have
heard Carnival and the Belize Cruise Terminal people say that now they
know that they have to perform. That is what they said to us at the end
of our meeting on Friday. The ball is their court. They have a contract.
We have an amended contract. We want them to build a facility that is
world class, that will guarantee Belizeans jobs for the long-term and
we want them to be a stakeholder that recognizes that they are not here
alone; that there are a land base cruise tourism concerns who already
have their money in the ground. There are other cruise lines here. We
all have to try and work together. So I much prefer to look forward than
to look backwards."
Stewart Krohn
"Even though you would think with the signing of this new amendment
that B.T.I.A. and others would be certainly relieved, one still gets the
feeling that the overnight segment of the tourism industry is not really
comfortable with this rapid rise in cruise tourism, is there a plan that
your ministry is involved in creating that would allow Belize to keep
its image as a pristine eco-destination and at the same time take advantage
of the short term benefits of the cruise tourism?"
Mark Espat, Minister of Tourism
"Stewart, I think it?s important to underscore the fact that throughout
the negotiations with the Carnival people, with the B.C.T.L people that
we have kept the private sector partners fully informed. We?ve had meetings
with B.T.I.A., with the Hotel Association and with the Cruise Industry
Association and I believed they have filtered out the information to their
respective sub-sectors and members. I think that an important part of
moving forward is the openness and transparency with which we conduct
the management of the industry. I think that many land based investors
have genuine concerns; whether it relates to the environment, whether
it relates to infrastructure, whether it relates to Belize?s image as
you just asked. Those are real, tangible concerns Government has to deal
with and we have a plan to deal with them. The cruise tourism policy is
part of that programme, which designates certain sites as available to
cruise tourists. Other sites are set up as exclusive for overnight tourists.
But at the end of the day what I hope we can do is to all sit around the
table because there are many common issues that we have to work with both
cruise sector as well as the overnight sector; whether it?s infrastructure,
marketing, training, value added. These are all things that are important
to both sectors. So I have a very optimistic view of the future. I think
that Belize can be a destination that yes, caters to cruise tourists,
but that the main source of revenue for the long term will continue to
be overnight tourism, will continue to be the most sustainable visitor
who comes for eight days, who spends and average of fifteen hundred U.S.
per person or per vacation. Right now, nine out of every ten cents of
the tourism dollar comes from the overnight industry. That?s where we
have and that?s where we will continue to invest the majority of our resources.
But we are also committed to working in a meaningful partnership–a two
way street–with the cruise lines themselves and we have always worked
more closely with the Belizean Cruise Stakeholders."
When News 5 spoke to B.T.I.A. president Lucy Fleming she said that she had not yet seen the text of the new agreement and thus could not comment on how it would affect their request for judicial review of the original contract, scheduled to be presented in the Supreme Court on Wednesday. It is understood that the B.T.I.A. executive board will be meeting with its attorney, Lois Young Barrow, on Tuesday morning to discuss the matter. Under the agreement, Carnival and its local partners will construct a fifty million US dollar cruise terminal on the south side of Belize City. In exchange, they will receive numerous tax advantages, direct subsidies and guarantees that the seven US dollar passenger head tax will stay frozen for five years and can only increase by three percent each year for the remaining fifteen years of the twenty-year contract.
