Tourists are Increasing Stays and Spending More in Belize

Nicole Solano

A multimillion-dollar investment is being made to expand the Philip Goldson International Airport. There are more carriers and airlifts to the country and Belize is readily becoming a prime tourism destination. C.E.O. in the Ministry of Tourism and Diaspora Relations Nicole Solano says that there are increase arrivals, even through land borders. While the numbers have not returned to the pre-COVID figures, visitors are spending more and staying longer.

Nicole Solano, C.E.O., Ministry of Tourism & Diaspora Relations

“For this destination and any destination, the most important thing is that the tourists are arriving in country. So we know that the majority of our visitors  arrive via the Philip Goldson International Airport and that facility and the upgrade that is happening is critical to the long term development and growth of tourism in Belize. But not only the international airport, but the land borders and how our travellers are entering Belize from our neighbouring countries, being able to expand regional markets – Mexico, Guatemala, all of Central America and South America – are very important markets for us that we can continue to work and develop. So yes, the international airport is critical and the developments that are happening there, in the long term, is going to improve the visitor experience and arrival, improve efficiencies and that is very important, we have to make sure that that happens – not only at the airport, but at the land borders as well.”

Duane Moody

“Are we on the road of seeing Belize becoming a hub for access to the Caribbean, to the Central American region?”

Nicole Solano

“I think Belize already is. All the work that we continue to do improves the potential for business and improves the ease of doing business with Belize and making that flow between Central America and Caribbean even easier.”

Duane Moody

“Do we even have a slow season now?”

Nicole Solano

“Well we don’t want to call it that. We have months of the year where we have more visitors than others. So this year has looked very good for us. We continue to have quite a significant amount of arrivals – not quite back to pre-pandemic levels, but we believe that by the end of this year, we’ll be very close. What we are seeing is rather than increased numbers, we are seeing longer lengths of stay, we are seeing people spending more. So they are spending more time and they are spending more while in country, so that’s very good.”