High Season Kicks Off With 16,000 Tourist

The tourism high season has only just begun, but the tourist village is already buzzing with activity. Just today, Belize experienced the busiest day of the season, with four cruise ships boasting approximately sixteen thousands visitors. This year, Belize is expected to welcome as many as nine hundred fifty thousand tourists, according to the B.T.B. So, as the streets were teeming with activity, local tour operators and souvenir vendors bustled about, trying to make an honest dollar. We stepped into the middle of the morning chaos to hear from them how the season is going so far.

Britney Gordon, Reporting

The tourism high season is one of the most highly anticipated times of the year, as tourism contributes to about half of the country’s GDP. Within the last two years, Belize saw an extraordinary recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, and according to those working in the industry, it’s only getting better.

“New York”

“New York”, Tour Operator

“Today we have 11, 000 people, I think in the city. It’s been pretty good. A lot of the people are saying no, thank you, but some of them if you tell them what they want to hear, they will support you.”

Garry Baltazar

Garry Baltazar, Entertainer

“I take my photos with them. I dance when there’s drummers out here and I want my drummers to remember that I’m still out here and need some help. I don’t want to be the only one out here to be making money to put bread on my table. Remember guys, it’s a rich culture. We need to be out here to demonstrate the culture, so other people could learn. And not only that, I’m doing this so that younger people in society, not only here in Belize as well, around this world, that they could um, do something positive too. Concerning the drumming, we need some drummers out here like.  Last year is gone and a new year is here and with the grace of God it will still happen.”

Although optimistic for the rest of the season to come, the smaller tour operators expressed their struggle to keep up with the competition of bigger companies.

Jason Weatherburn

Jason Weatherburn, Tour Operator

“Compared to the last high season, it’s much better. A little more business. We still have issues like the bigger companies inside that are taking most of the jobs so that’s the main issue out here right now. But for business, it’s been a little better this year than last year.”

Britney Gordon

“For the smaller tour operators like yourself out here, you find that it’s a bit harder to accumulate business.”

Jason Weatherburn

“It’s harder because, um, To me, the cruise ships deal with the bigger operators, the bigger businesses, right? So we just have to know how to sell our tours, you know, and attract people. When we do our job and they get a nice experience, they go back in and they encourage other people to come outside and go with us.”

Britney Gordon

“So you’re optimistic for the rest of this year?”

Jason Weatherburn

“I stay optimistic. “I stay optimistic.”

In spite of the hardships that come with the heavy competition, a community has formed between the members of the Tourism and Tour Operations Union and, with the support of the BTB, they are excited to keep working.

John Pollard

John Pollard, President, Belize Tourism and Tour Operations Union

“During a low season it’s very difficult to get by but we come out here because this is our job, and we intermingle with each other daily. Sometimes we having fun, playing games, relaxing. But, at the end of the day, when the time comes to work, we have to work.”

Britney Gordon

“And, have you received any outward support from anywhere else to get through these seasons?”

John Pollard

“Oh yeah, BTB has been a very great help to all of us. They have looked out for us through the entire slow times and just recently for the Christmas. They had also looked out for us as operators and vendors and Out 1:29 “everybody else around.”

Britney Gordon

“Do you have any reason why you think that this upward projection has taken place? Has there been any changes recently?”

John Pollard

“I believe the persons who are doing the marketing from the BTB have done a very good job in bringing those ships. Hence the reason why we are seeing a lot of ships right now.”

Britney Gordon for News Five.