Tourist Arrivals Up

The Belize Tourism Board is reporting another record for tourist arrivals to the Jewel.  In releasing the statistics for the first quarter of 2017, there have been two point seven percent more overnight tourist arrivals than the same period in 2016. This is attributed to a forty-four thousand, four hundred-plus visitors touching down in March, breaking the record set last March for the highest number of tourist arrivals recorded in a single month. Cruise tourism arrivals increased by nearly nine percent overall in the first quarter of 2017 compared to 2016, with a decrease in March offsetting high growth in January and February. However, the total number of cruise ship passengers registered in the first quarter of 2017 surpassed that of 2016, giving a positive outlook for Belize’s cruise tourism for the remainder of this year. New services by carriers such as WestJet and Southwest Airlines contributed to the net increase in overnight tourist arrivals, while the greater number of cruise ships touching Belize led to the increases there.