Tourism up 34% in April

When business is good, the people at the Belize Tourism Board are always eager to keep the media supplied with the numbers that prove it. And in 2003, it appears that business is very good. The latest figures on April tourist arrivals at the P.G.I.A. show an almost unbelievable increase of over thirty-five percent in comparison to April of 2002. Coupled with a sixteen point one percent cumulative increase for January, February and March, it appears that Belize’s tourism industry is on the way to not only a banner year, but a record in terms of year-to-year growth. Reasons given for the strong performance include new airline capacity, an effective marketing strategy and, in the wake of the Iraq war, a shift in North American travel patterns away from long distance vacations in favour of destinations closer to home.