Lamanai Outpost Lodge – Hotel of the year

Many of them have been labouring in the industry for years without being recognized, while others have arrived on the scene more recently. But on Saturday night at the House of Culture, all those nominated for the first annual Tourism Awards got their chance to be acknowledged. And those who actually won will now have the chance to add the honor to their advertising efforts. David Vernon of Total Adventure Tours captured Tour Guide of the year while the Tour Operators award went to Sarita and Lascelle Tillett of S and L Travel and Tours. Although they are not as well known as the others nominated in their category, Lamanai Outpost Lodge won Hotel of the year. They beat such popular establishments as Chaa Creek, Pelican Beach, Five Sisters Lodge and Ramon’s Village. The Corporate Award went to Big H while Receptive Service of the Year went to Batty’s Brother Bus Service. Both TIDE and Caye Caulker BTIA captured the Environmental Organization of the Year, while Sacred Heart College was awarded the Educational Organization of the year. The Minister’s Award went to Tropic Air and Celi McCorkle for their excellent service in tourism. During the awards ceremony a special recognition was given to the late Jean Shaw of Hotel Mopan. News Five spoke with the head of product development at the BTB.

Anthony Mahler, Director, Product Development, BTB

“Well, over the years, a tremendous amount of people have

worked tirelessly to develop the industry, to assist in this growth and we felt that it was past overdue to recognize some of these people.”

Jacqueline Woods

“Anthony, what criteria was used to judge the establishments and the individuals who were awarded?”

Anthony Mahler

“We had two major areas, the individuals and the establishments. For the individuals we focused mainly on their skill level, their knowledge about the product, their knowledge about Belize, their service level. And for the establishments we primarily focused on their community participation, their involvement with training and their development of the industry in its entirety. We had the nomination forms on the internet and we had some feedback from that and that was the key area where we got some of the people or names from.”

The awards were the culmination of Tourism Awareness Week, which also included an all expense, paid tour of popular destinations in Belize for local press.