2005 was record year for tourist arrivals

It took a while for the Belize Tourism Board to get its stats together but the B.T.B. is reporting a record year for 2005. Tourist arrivals at the Philip Goldson International Airport reached almost one hundred seventy-five thousand, a seven point four percent increase over 2004. The P.G.I.A. handles around three quarters of the nation’s arrivals. Things were considerably slower at other border points, making the raise in total arrivals from all points a more modest two point five percent. In terms of money for hotels our overnight tourists are spending more, eleven point six percent more to be exact, reaching a total of one hundred three point two million dollars. On the cruise side, for the first time since 1998 arrivals actually declined six percent to just over eight hundred thousand passengers. This was due largely to the cancellation of twenty-three ship calls because of various hurricanes.