by Brian Major
Last updated: 3:27 PM ET, Fri April 19, 2019
Add Belize to the list of Caribbean destinations reporting strong visitor arrivals in early 2019. The country hosted 58,000 overnight arrivals in March 2019, an all-time high for the month and a 6.6 percent year-over-year increase compared with last March, said Belize Tourism Board (BTB) officials.
Belize's first-quarter 2019 visitor arrivals totaled 158,290 overnight guests, a 6.3 percent increase compared with the first quarter of 2018. Meanwhile, the higher March 2019 numbers represent Belize's 28th consecutive month of increased year-over-year visitor arrivals.
Early 2019 cruise passenger arrivals are also trending higher, BTB reports. More than 143,000 passengers arrived in the cruise ports in Belize City and Harvest Caye in March 2019. The total is down slightly from February but represents an increase of more than eight percent compared with the same month in 2018. The ports hosted 45 cruise ship calls in March, an increase of nearly 20 percent.
Despite the strong March arrivals, Belize's Central Bank expects travel to the country to decline slightly in 2019 after a record-setting performance last year, said Dean Barrow, Belize's prime minister, in a March address.
"The increase in tourist arrivals will not be as great in 2019 as 2018's record performance," Barrow said. Belize hosted 428,261 land-based travelers and 1.21 million cruise passengers in 2018, increases of 14.6 and 19.1 percent, respectively.
Belize tourism stakeholders say they are "not feeling the effects of the growth in arrivals either by overnight or on cruise ships," Barrow added. He said he expected Belize's economy, and tourism industry, to outperform the "conservative" Central Bank forecast.
Belize, highly treasured for its outstanding natural environment, including its 185-mile long barrier reef, rainforests, caves and secluded beaches, also features a mix of diverse cultures, distinctive cuisine, and extensive Mayan archeological sites.
The country has been among the Caribbean's fastest-growing destinations over the past decade, with land-based visitor arrivals doubling from 232,249 in 2009 to 489,261 in 2018.
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