BETEX prepares for large attendance

The Belize Tourism Expo is a week away and event organizers say anticipated attendance from travel agents interested in selling Belize is up twenty percent from 2004. According to Andrew Godoy, Executive Director of the Belize Tourism Industry Association, the show has several advantages for local operators who often must attend larger trade shows abroad.

Andrew Godoy, Executive Director, BTIA
?How can our people benefit from a show like this? Well for one simple reason you could say. Attending some of these shows internationally it costs airfare, you have to pay hotels and the booths are so expensive. We are having this show right here in Belize. And this show not only being here in Belize, but the mere fact that it is being organised and is a show centred around Belize is saying that everybody who signs unto the BETEX and comes to Belize has the interest to sell Belize, the genuine intent to sell Belize. So local suppliers won?t have to worry, if I negotiate with one company maybe they are interested in selling another destination like Costa Rica or any other country. They come here with the intent to sell Belize. So suppliers locally can benefit knowing that, so it is for them now to negotiate rightly with these people and do their follow up.?

Nicole Usher, Idea Lab Studios, BETEX Marketing and Mgmt. Co.
?Really BETEX is a showcase of the best of Belize, that?s what we like to say. So we invite the general public to come in and view these properties and they will have specials for their resorts. The summer is over but many of these properties are still offering specials for Belizeans or people that live in Belize. Many of them will be offering raffles. The general public will also be a part of the competition. They can also vote for the best booth competition. So everybody is going to be involved in selecting who they want the best booth to be. So we really encourage the general public to come out. The entire event begins, we market it as September twelfth to the seventeenth because that encompasses both the market place and the expedition. But the actual market place days or the trade show days at the Princess. Set up is the twelfth and those days are the thirteenth and fourteenth. So it?s two full days and the public afternoon is the afternoon of the second day.?

If you’re interested in participating in BETEX 2006 or would like to find out more information, please visit their website at www.betex.bz