P.G. tourism industry feels excluded from B.T.B. promotions

Here at News Five, we love a good controversy, so when we heard that members of the Toledo Eco Tourism Association and other members of the P.G. tourism industry were getting on a bus and heading for the Belize Biltmore Plaza to stage a “protest” against the Belize Tourism Board we thought there would be some fireworks. The association told us they felt strongly that the B.T.B. was ignoring them and their efforts to develop tourism in the south. In fact, one member told us the B.T.B. was deliberately discriminating against them. Their sentiments caught the B.T.B. off guard, because they say they have been working hard to make the south a viable tourist destination in Belize. Some swift intervention by the B.T.B. which held a meeting to sort things out this morning with the aggrieved organizations seems to have paid off. When we got to the Biltmore this afternoon the fire had fizzled out of the face-off. What we got instead was a request from the Toledo Eco Tourism Association that they be included in the B.T.B.’s latest advertising campaign.

Reyes Chun, Chairman, Toledo Eco Tourism Association

“We were out there for ten years and then government comes in, government comes out and still, we are not getting improvement and we are losing interest. We are internationally known but I think there’s some sort of cover-up. I don’t know why and that’s why I wanted to know.

I would want, especially in this big international campaign, I would want a little something to advertise our program, produce a picture of our guest house on the… you know a little, quarter section of the paper.”

Tracy Taegar, Director, Belize Tourism Board

“This is the first year certainly in office and I think there will be lots of new and exciting opportunities in Toledo. We are focussing on a national advertising campaign. It’s very difficult for us to promote Punta Gorda for example when people don’t know where Belize is. So the focus for us is to build a brand and an image for Belize so we can get people here. We are not competing among ourselves, we are not even competing with the region, we are competing in a global marketplace. And sometimes it’s hard for the industry to understand that we need to establish a name for the country before we can then divide the tourists that come here and send them to different parts of our destination.”

The Toledo Eco Tourism Association has also filed a complaint with the Ombudsman against the previous B.T.B. in regards to an international reward the association received in 1997. They claim they were not given due recognition and when camera crews from Germany arrived in Belize, they claim the previous tourist board directed them elsewhere in the country.