Seventy tour guides suspended from Fort Street Tourism Village

Tension was high on Thursday at the Fort Street Tourism Village when around seventy tour guides were suspended from operating on the compound. According to Operations Manager of Fort Street Tourism Village, James Nisbet, the conflict—between the Belize Cruise Ship Tour Guide and Taxi Association and the management of the Tourism Village— started as a result of violations of the village policies.

James Nisbet, Operations Mgr, Fort Street Tourism Village
“We have some disgruntled people but I think it’s for the better of everybody, the Taxi/Tour Guide Association on a whole. There are some differences in opinion as to what policies are being put in place and we have just ratify it before it becomes a real problem for the industry itself. But I’m pretty sure that we should be able to resolve this problem by day’s end or by Monday morning for them to resume work as early as the next ship day.”

Marion Ali
“These policies have to do with what?”

James Nisbet
“It’s basically the dock policies that we have in place to establish rules and regulations of how we want to interface with passengers coming off the ships and a couple other infractions that have been overlooked in the past and we’ve had discussions regarding those issues but I don’t want to get into the details of it. It’s unfortunate that it had to come to this point but it’s very clear that we have rules and we intend to make those rules apply to everyone, not just some people. And I think it also sends a message that we, as Fort Street Tourism Village, are committed to the appearance of Belize as a destination and as a growing destination when all other destinations seem to be losing passengers and we are gaining; that we are making sure that the guest experience here is what the passengers expect in coming to a new country. It was an unexpected measure but it was something necessary. I think if you were to do a poll with some of the association members, a lot of them are disgruntled about how they’re being treated as members, which that is neither here nor there but everybody would like to have things their way and there are rules in place for everyone, including the association.”

Marion Ali
“It’s an association made up of tour guides that operate within your compound? What’s the agreement really?”

James Nisbet
“That’s a part of the problem itself. The association, the Belize Cruise Ship Tour Guide and Taxi Association is just that and they are a tenant and in the past they have signed leases with the Fort Street Tourism Village as a tenant to occupy and provide certain services that are stipulated in their lease and this is actually not an action against any seventy or sixty or fifty tour guides. It is against the association, which has brought forth themselves as one unit.”