The ruction that rumbled around the Tourism Village today came as no surprise. Indeed, viewers of last night’s newscast were well prepared for the predicted confrontation between street vendors and a City Council bent on relocating them. But the pitched battle that greeted radio listeners this morning did not involve small vendors or hair braiders […]
On the eve of a meeting of the Association of Caribbean States, representatives from Belize and Cuba today took the opportunity to engage in some bilateral diplomacy. The occasion was a “business encounter” and one of the topics addressed was the fact that despite their close physical proximity, the nations of the Caribbean often remain […]
If our next story has a familiar ring to it, it’s because two weeks ago we went through a very similar exercise. The airline in question was U.S. Air; today it’s Air Jamaica inaugurating virtually identical four-times-a-week service between the U.S. and Belize via its Montego Bay hub. But while for many people one airline […]
In other news from the west, today, the border station in Benque Viejo got a much needed face-lift. News 5’s Jacqueline Woods and Rick Romero hit the highway this morning and filed this report. Jacqueline Woods, Reporting Every day, authorities estimate approximately fifteen hundred people legally pass through the western border into Belize. So this […]
Coming off successive years of direct hits by major hurricanes, the terror attacks of September eleventh and a looming worldwide recession, Belize’s tourism industry deserves a break. And this year it’s getting one in the form of a tremendous increase in the number of airlines serving the country. The first newcomer out of the gate […]
More international airlines flying into Belize is good news, right? Well, yes, but as News 5’s Janelle Chanona discovered, there’s a potential downside as well. Janelle Chanona, Reporting With both U.S. Air and Air Jamaica expected to begin service in Belize in November of this year, and existing carriers American and Continental adding more flights, […]
Good news from the tourism industry dominates our broadcast tonight…and that is the impending arrival of Air Jamaica. This afternoon a high powered delegation from the land of reggae gave a presentation on why the aggressive airline will soon be making big waves in the small pond called Belize. News 5’s Stewart Krohn reports. Stewart […]
There is good news for air travellers tonight, as it has been confirmed that on November twenty-first, Air Jamaica will commence scheduled flights to Belize. The four-times-per-week service, utilizing Airbus 320 jets, will fly on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Details of the arrival and departure times have not been released, but the route through […]
The Belize Tourism Board has embarked on a major promotional effort utilising the internet. The effort, co-ordinated by Naturalight Productions of Dangriga, will include advertisements on major international travel-related websites. Online promotions feature vacation guides, newsletters and a sweepstakes in which viewers can win trips to Belize. The internet advertising campaign will run from six […]
We have not been in contact today with a group of Belizeans reportedly held up in Texas waiting to cross the Mexican border… But we did speak to the Belize Embassy in Mexico City. Ambassador Salvador Figueroa explained that the problems involving Belizeans transiting through Mexico have been around for many years and are compounded […]
Belizeans are now able to travel throughout the state of Quintana Roo without having to wait in long lines for a Mexican visa. This is thanks to the expansion of the “Forma Migratoria de Visitante Local”, which came into circulation three years ago. The card, which once limited travel only to Chetumal, has been extended […]
While Belizeans may now find it easier to enjoy the pleasures of Quintana Roo, the same cannot be said for those driving from the United States through Mexico. Today News 5 received a desperate phone call from a Belizean in Texas, Oscar Perez, who claims that he along with as many as sixty Belizeans have […]
It was announced last month amid great fanfare and today the starting date for service by U.S. Airways was officially made public. The airline has received U.S. government approval to fly four days each week between Belize City and U.S. Air’s hub in Charlotte, North Carolina. Those flights will run on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and […]
Last month we brought you news of a new airline, whose executives swooped into Belize and told anyone who would listen about their big plans to run regular charter service from Miami and soon thereafter to become Belize’s designated national carrier. The first flight of Bel-Air International was set to arrive on June eighth. That’s […]
If you are one of the many Belizeans planning to visit the United States this summer, as of Saturday it’s going to cost you more. Starting on June first, the non-immigrant visa application fee, or tourist visa, will cost sixty-five U.S. dollars, up twenty dollars from the current forty-five U.S. dollar charge. A press release […]
It was part of the original plan for the Belize City Tourism Village, but is only just now being put into place. A number of water taxis, previously working out of other locations on the Haulover Creek, have joined together to form the Tourism Village Water Taxi Association. According to association president-pro-tem Joe Marin, getting […]
Over the last decade News 5’s reporters and camera crews have ventured deep beneath the surface of the Belizean countryside to explore spectacular subterranean caverns at the Vaca Plateau, Mountain Pine Ridge and Caves Branch. Tonight we take you on another adventure to a place that offers the most stunning evidence yet of how the […]
The first try was in 1977 with Belize Airways Ltd., and while that effort provided some of the best in-flight service in the world, the laws of economics eventually prevailed. Since that time a number of local operators have tried and failed to find a niche in the finicky market…and to be fair, the list […]
People travelling this weekend to Belize City from the north or those going in the opposite direction should listen up, because your plans may need some adjustment. On Sunday morning at five a.m. the Haulover Bridge at mile five on the Northern Highway will be closed for vital maintenance. Traffic, except for heavy vehicles, will […]
Reports from the Philip Goldson International Airport indicate that the post September travel slump may be over. According to a BTB release, tourist arrivals at the airport during March showed an increase of just under one percent over 2001. This follows slight decreases in January and February. The future looks even better as American Airlines […]
The streets of Belize City were extra crowded today as no fewer than three cruise ships were in the harbour. The Norwegian Sun, with two thousand, four hundred and twenty passengers on her manifest, the Galaxy, carrying two thousand and the Olympic Voyager with seven hundred, disgorged their guests at the Tourism Village from where […]
Belize is among the participants in an ambitious international marketing project to boost Caribbean tourist arrivals in the wake of September eleventh. The Regional Tourism Emergency Programme, budgeted at over eighteen million U.S. dollars, will use television advertising, public relations and promotional activities to stimulate demand for travel from Europe and North America. The Caribbean […]
Traffic in town was at a standstill, the bus stations packed, airstrips crowded and marine terminal ram jam with Belizeans and tourists alike. It’s all part of this year’s Easter exodus. News 5’s Jacqueline Woods, who unfortunately had to work all day, has the story. Jacqueline Woods, Reporting Transportation services were working overtime today in […]
Year round, it is Belize’s number one tourist destination and come this weekend the town of San Pedro and Ambergris Caye will be rocking like never before. This morning we sent News 5’s Jacqueline Woods on a scouting trip…and she didn’t want to come back. Patty Arceo, Area Rep, Belize Rural South “We would like […]
Beginning Thursday afternoon thousands of Belizeans will be on the move, looking to get an early jump on the four day Easter weekend. On last night’s newscast we looked at one popular holiday destination, the village of Placencia. Today, Ann-Marie Williams travelled to the island of Caye Caulker…and returned with the following report. Javier Novelo, […]
