B.T.B. releases Tourism Stats for 2013

Tourism statistics for 2013 are out and the Belize Tourism Board is boasting a significant increase in the number of overnight and cruise arrivals.  There were a total of two hundred and twenty-three thousand, five hundred and ten visitors who disembarked at the Phillip Goldson International Airport last year, with almost twenty-nine thousand arriving in March alone.  An increase of ten point five percent in was recorded in August when compared to the same period in 2012.  With minor fluctuations in April and September, B.T.B. says arrivals at the P.G.I.A. are up by five and a half percent.  Following a two-year decline in cruise arrivals, that sector registered a five point seven percent growth; January having as many as one hundred, two thousand, eight hundred and seventy-one visitors. Overnight arrivals, on the other hand, also saw a six percent increase.  While the GDP growth rate increased slightly by zero point seven percent, the tourism industry performed fairly well.