Updating a National Sustainable Cruise Tourism Masterplan

And while overnight tourist arrivals are up by ninety-one to ninety-five percent, what about the cruise tourism sector? Director of Tourism Evan Tillett says that the National Sustainable Tourism Masterplan is being updated. Larger ships are coming to Belize and there are requests for berthing facilities; none of which have been established in the Belize City harbour. Down south at Harvest Caye, Norwegian Cruise Lines has a docking facility on the island off the coast of the Placencia peninsula. The facility at Stake Bank was projected for 2024, but will it be completed by then? Here’s what Tillett had to say.

Evan Tillett

Evan Tillett, Director of Tourism

“We are still under 2019 numbers but I think there is a number of factors for that. For instance, we have bigger ships now coming on stream; Belize is still a tender port situation. And so I think we need to finalize that whole process in getting a docking facility and then you will see real growth in the cruise tourism sector. But the important thing is that it has to be done in a sustainable manner and every single thing that we do at the B.T.B. and the Ministry of Tourism is done sustainably. In fact, we are just in the process of finalizing the update to our National Sustainable Tourism Masterplan.”

Duane Moody

“Sir that I believe is one of the hesitations because the Stake Bank one; that has been at a standstill for some time now. If I am not mistaken, 2024 is when it is expected that that would come on stream so that we can now see that docking facility operational. Is there any update as to when that is going to happen? Have you guys been able to speak to maybe the stakeholders in that project?”

Evan Tillett

“In terms of the port projects, there is ongoing discussions, but I don’t have any new update in terms of the Stakebank project. The last information I had is that they were going to open, I think, somewhere in 2024, but I do not have any additional update from them.”