July tourism figures show record results

If you’ve been to any of Belize’s tourism hotspots this summer, you would have noticed that what was once considered the slow season has turned into a very busy time of year. And today we have the statistics to prove it. The latest tourism arrival figures for July at the international airport show a massive twenty-one point eight percent increase over the same month last year: thirteen thousand, seven hundred and seventy-nine visitors in July 2003, versus eleven thousand, three hundred and nine in July 2002. That is an all time record number for July and marks the ninth consecutive month of record-breaking tourist arrivals. Year to date totals for the first seven months of the 2003 indicate a whopping nineteen point one percent increase over 2002…and this does not include the doubling of cruise ship arrivals, which increased from a hundred and forty-four thousand in the first seven months of 2002 to two hundred and ninety-four thousand for the same period this year. Industry sources cite improved marketing efforts, positive media exposure and Belize’s unique position as an exotic yet safe destination as reasons for the country’s increased popularity.