What Happened to all the Boom in Tourism?

Mark Lizarraga

Meanwhile, Private Sector Senator, Mark Lizarraga called out the government, asking “what happened to all the boom in tourism?” Tourism is known to be one of the main drivers of the economy with arrivals reportedly above the million mark. Lizarraga pointed out that the figures contained in the budget as it relates to the tourism industry do not reflect what the B.T.B. and the Ministry have been reporting.

Mark Lizarraga, Senator for Private Sector

“We still d give B.T.B. grants at two hundred thousand dollars. We are granting them money. The budget has it as two hundred thousand dollars. Now with all this mass of tourism that comes. If you go to the airport on Saturdays they claim that you will see the long lines. All the numbers go up, all the new planes that are coming, all the million and change that are coming in the cruise ships. You know how much money they are giving us now? First they use to give us two million. In 2016 they gave us two million. In 2017 they gave us two million. In 2018 they were projected to give us two million. You know how much they gave us? Eight hundred and fifty-seven thousand. What happened to all the boom in tourism? Why did that go down from two million to eight hundred thousand and then next year it is projected to be the same eight hundred thousand. I thought we had a boom in the tourism industry, that’s why we are spending millions of millions of dollars all over the place.”