Booming Economic Activity on Caye Caulker as Tourism Rebounding

A visit to the island of Caye Caulker today was different than it was six months ago. Tourism activity on La Isla Cariñosa was palpable, with many tour boats out at the reef and tourists basking in the sun and sand. The return of employment for most of the island residents has been welcome. News Five spoke with Caye Caulker Chairlady Seleny Villanueva-Pott.

Seleny Villanueva-Pott, Chairlady, Caye Caulker Village Council

Seleny Villanueva-Pott

“We’ve come a long way to where we were two years ago March. We are seeing a lot of tourists coming in and we are very grateful for that. A lot of people have back their jobs, a lot of people are fending for themselves and that’s what we wanted. I believe the people of Caye Caulker are used to being independent and being on their own, so this is where we are and we are very grateful that we are seeing an increase in economic activity and an increase in tourism arrivals. We are nowhere near what we were pre-COVID, but we are very grateful that we have some activity. It will take us a while to get where we were pre-COVID, but we will take this for now. We’ve seen a lot of the hotels that were completely closed down that they are reopening slowly; most of them in fact have reopening. We lost a couple businesses in the pandemic but not all small businesses can go through the toll of a two-year economic impact so the best thing to do was to close their doors. But looking on the positive side, we are really happy that there is business going on on the island and we are able to make a little bit more than just meeting the bills right now. So we are very grateful for that.”