Belize Airlift Development Conference – Connecting Belize to the World
Today at the Biltmore Plaza in Belize City, the Ministry of Tourism and the Belize Tourism Board hosted the first ever Belize Airlift Development Conference. The one-day conference has held under the theme “Connecting Belize to the World” The aim is to increase and improve the air traffic to the Jewel. And so, the conference brought together stakeholders from across the sector to share the plans for the industry and the roles that they ultimately will play. News Five’s Duane Moody reports.
Duane Moody, Reporting
Sixty percent of people worldwide travel by air. In Belize, eighty percent of tourists first enter the country via the Philip Goldson International Airport. The growth in airlift means further development of the tourism industry, and also translates into economic growth and social protection for all. This has been goal and the brainchild of Tourism Minister Anthony Mahler and his team.
Anthony Mahler
Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism & Diaspora Relations
“Airlift into a destination like Belize is the lifeblood of the industry, a lot of spinoffs come from that and so if you increase your capacity into a destination like Belize then the supply chain has to respond. And so my focus and the focus of our airline development commit has been on increasing airlift capacity into the capacity.”
But it is not without its challenges. As a country there must be the requisite accommodation to meet the demand that will be created by an increase in airlift; and more importantly increasing the capacity of the P.G.I.A. itself.
Anthony Mahler
“Akin to what we have done, we’ve also put a lot of energy into attracting developers to Belize to show them the uniqueness of our nation and to show them the uniqueness of our people. And so we believe that within the coming years that we will see some major investments in the hotel sector. If you look at what is happening, hopefully the Four Seasons out on Caye Chapel will kick off and then there are other investments. I’ve spoken to some developers over the last few weeks who are seriously contemplating putting properties in Belize City, Belmopan, the Placencia area and Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker. As you will see later on today, Mister Enrique Hoare from the airport will be doing a presentation on the growth path for them and the expansion and modernization of the airport. I have been advised that they are going to spend somewhere around two hundred and fifty million Belize over the next few years in expanding the airport.”
Tourism Director Evan Tillett says that airlines are still recovering from the pandemic.
Evan Tillett
Evan Tillett, Director of Tourism, B.T.B.
“One of the major hurdles right now is that the airlines are still working for position to get back to where they were 2019; they are still building out back their networks to get there. You have pilot issues, equipment issues, logistic issues. All those things are some of the challenges that makes it difficult for us to get new connectivity to Belize. But it is a job that we are focused on and we will invest a lot of time and resources to ensure that it gets done.”
But stakeholders are optimistic about the growth of Belize over the next few years. The team has had over a hundred and fifty meetings with close to forty airlines all over the world, including Europe, Canada, United States and the Central American region. So how soon will we see new airlifts to Belize?
Evan Tillett
“It is a process and you must invest time, resources into that process. It is about a business case. It is about going to meetings, the conference room, doing all the leg work. The private sector in the destination has a role to play. It’s like courting. You may be able to get it accomplished in a day or you might get it accomplished ten fifteen years down the road. But you must be committed to that process. At the B.T.B., through the airline development committee, we are committed to that process.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
