Although Belizeans may only have heard about it this week, the issue was making headlines in Mexico and the United States for weeks. When the furor was over the drivers had won, and the Mexican government suspended the new law requiring a deposit for vehicles entering Mexico. That’s right, just one day after the announcement […]
The Mexican government has implemented a new law to regulate vehicles traveling through that country. All vehicles transiting to or travelling through Mexico will now be required to pay a deposit ranging from four hundred US dollars to eight hundred US dollars depending on the model and year of the vehicle. Diana Locke, the Director […]
News Five spoke with Mexico’s Ambassador to Belize, Enrique Hubbard Urrea about the new law and why Mexico felt it is necessary. He also wanted to clarify the impression that Mexican border officials are all fully aware of the Letter of Commitment exempting Belizeans. Q: “Ambassador why was the new law issued in the first […]
The Belize Tourism Board is reporting a nineteen percent increase in arrivals for the month of October compared to last year. The figure is based on information provided by the Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport. Arrivals for visitors overall, including business and official travelers increased by seventeen point four percent from five thousand six to […]
While those in San Pedro have known for years that you can fly to Corozal, it’s been a relative secret from those in Belize City. But if you are in a hurry, you don’t have to spend hours on the highway, you can take the skyway. Today Tropic Air inaugurated its terminal at the Corozal […]
Those of us who live in Belize City and the surrounding areas know the place like the back of our hands, but anyone who visits is naturally confused about how to get around, especially since there are so few street signs. The Belize Tourism Board wants to assist both the visitors from other countries, as […]
Belize City is often bypassed by tourists in favor of the cayes or more exotic destinations inland. But there is a move afoot to get visitors, especially the cruise ship passengers, to linger a while in the old capital, and of course spend some of those Yankee dollars. News Five was at the Memorial Park […]
If you’ve seen the ads on TV and thought cruises were only for wealthy Americans, think again. One Belizean tour company has got a sweet deal that lets you board a cruise ship in Belize, spend three nights aboard ship and then fly back from Miami for less than a thousand Belize dollars. David Gegg, […]
In 1994 the United States/Federal Aviation Administration, US/FAA, said that flight safety in Belize rates as category three, meaning that Belize fails to meet minimum safety requirements. On Thursday the Civil Aviation Office announced that the Government of Belize will draft the New Belize Air Navigation Order. Included among the changes is the recommendation that […]
Many of the Belizeans and tourists heading out to San Pedro this weekend for the Costa Maya Festival will be catching water taxis from the Marine Terminal. But San Pedro is not the only beautiful spot in Belize accessible by water taxi. As Janelle Chanona found out, the new southern route is also a really […]
Tourist arrivals at the Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport were up nine percent in July compared to last year. The Immigration Department reports there were nine thousand one hundred and thirteen visitors last month compared to eight thousand three hundred and seventy-one in July of 1998. Cruise ship arrivals are also being tracked with over […]
Belize’s telecommunications monopoly is not the only business, which intends to respond to the changing needs of its customers. Water taxi operators are also making plans to cash in on growing local and tourist traffic. They will be adding new routes later this summer that will make travel around the country a lot more convenient, […]
Since the National Bus Owners Organization was formed in 1971, it has been a bumpy ride for those in the industry. While the bigger bus lines have managed to forge ahead, the small operators say unfair competition and favoritism from the Ministry of Transport are squeezing them out. On Thursday evening a group of small […]
Despite efforts to increase tourism during the slow season, the figures for June arrivals at the Philip S. W. Goldson International indicate the level of arrivals last month was almost exactly the same as last year. The Belize Tourism Board reports that eight thousand two hundred and two pleasure travelers arrived by air last month, […]
Today, Belizean taxi drivers got out from behind the wheel to get some tips on how to make more money for themselves and contribute to the tourism industry. The program is part of the Belize Tourism Board’s “tourism means business” campaign. Janelle Chanona reports. Fedencio Vasquez, Taxi Driver “Whenever you have any tourists and you […]
Grupo TACA resumes its service to Miami this weekend. But the flight is back with some major improvements. It originates in Flores and Guatemala City providing improved access to the Maya ruins of Tikal but more importantly for us, since it now leaves Belize in the morning and returns in the afternoon, Grupo TACA says […]
To help market Belize as an attractive tourist destination the Belize Tourism Board is hosting two groups of travel writers this week. According to Belize Tourism Board’s Director Valerie Woods their visits will generate positive publicity for Belize in the international press. Valerie Woods, Director of BTB “As part of Tourist Board’s on going marketing […]
Tour operators will now have to be licensed and a special committee has been set up to monitor the process. The statutory instrument regulating tour operators was signed today by Tourism Minister Mark Espat. The Tour Operators Committee, which will be controlled by the private sector, will work with the Belize Tourism Board to ensure […]
Sometimes a losing proposition can be turned into a winning one, if you’re willing to look at the problem from a different angle. Business was so bad on Grupo TACA’s Belize-Miami flight that the company decided to cancel it, but negotiations between the company and the Belize government have resulted not only in a resumption […]
Except for three days last week in which passengers had to be rerouted to other carriers, a go slow by American Airlines pilots in the U.S. appears not to have had much effect here in Belize. According to American’s local office, flights resumed today and the company was able to assist all those passengers last […]
Another of Belize’s hotels has been recognized by a travel publication. Chan Chich Lodge has been selected as the Grand Award Winner in Hideaway Report’s twentieth annual hideaways of the year competition. According to the publisher Andrew Harper the magazine, based in Sun Valley, Idaho, U.S.A., will only consider resorts which are intimate in size […]
There is an old adage that says “all good things must come to an end.” Well, tonight we have the disappointing obligation to report on the end of one good thing for Belize that was gone before we ever got to enjoy it. That thing was a car and passenger ferry that in November began […]
A delegation headed by Minister of Public Utilities, Transportation and Communications, Maxwell Samuels attended a Western Hemisphere Transportation Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana last week. The conference’s main objective was to develop a transportation system that supports increased economic and social development, trade and tourism. According to the government press office, Minister Samuels raised concerns […]
Belize has been touted as an eco-tourism destination for some time now, meaning that the tourists who come are supposed to appreciate what Belize has to offer without destroying it or over running it. For many in the tourist industry the idea of cruise ships making port in Belize may seem in opposition to this […]
We hear it over and over again: tourism means dollars for the economy. Today the Belize Tourist Board has released its third quarter statistics and the news is good once again. According to the B.T.B., for the third straight quarter arrivals are up and the increase is the largest in three years. From July to […]
