by Brian Major
Last updated: 1:40 PM ET, Fri January 12, 2024
Belize’s land-based overnight and cruise ship visitor arrivals
both trended sharply higher in 2023, Belize Tourism Board (BTB) officials said this
week. The increased land and sea arrivals came as the nation recently issued guidelines
under the second phase of its Sustainable Tourism Plan.
Belize hosted 464,717 overnight visitors in 2023, a 25 percent
increase over 2022. In December 2023, Belize recorded the second-highest
overnight tourist arrival total for any month in its history, with 55,574
visitors, BTB officials said in a statement.
The country’s cruise ship arrivals surged 47 percent in 2023
over 2022, with 904,189 visitors. BTB officials expect Belize to host “950,000
plus” cruise ship visitors in 2024.
On January 10, Belize experienced what is expected to be the
busiest day of the 2024 cruise season with four ships (Carnival Dream, Carnival
Magic, Sky Princess and Regal Princess) calling with a collective 16,000
passengers.
Despite this year’s growth, Belize's tourism activity nevertheless continues to fall short of pre-pandemic
levels. Belize’s land-based visitor arrivals in 2023 trailed 2019 levels by 7.6
percent, BTB officials said. The country’s 2023 cruise ship arrivals were 23
percent behind its 2019 totals.
Still, the 2023 results “[serve] as a testament to Belize's
enduring appeal,” said officials, who added, “The tourism sector remains poised
for further growth, offering an optimistic outlook for the industry's continued
recovery.”
Future Planning
The recently introduced second phase of BTB’s Sustainable
Tourism Program will focus on the enhancement of the country’s tourism infrastructure
at “target destinations” including the Corozal, Caye Caulker, Mountain Pine
Ridge/Caracol Area and Toledo districts, according to BTB officials.
Investments will focus on projects to enhance Belize’s archaeological
sites including subterranean sites and ancient cities and restore and enhance culture-based
attractions in the urban centers of Corozal Town and Punta Gorda Town.
Projects will also focus on the “improvement and development of
natural attractions” including the enhancement of waterfronts and basic
infrastructure in Caye Caulker, Corozal Bay and Punta Gorda.
The Sustainable Tourism Project is designed to “increase
visitor expenditures while improving social inclusion, environmental quality
and climate resilience,” according to BTB officials.
The plan also includes an “Institutional Strengthening and
Capacity Building” element intended to “[improve] policy, planning and
destination management of the tourism sector and [increase] capacity of the
private sector and low-income people involved in tourism development and
promotion.”
Under the initiative, BTB will “procure goods, finance
studies and offer technical assistance to improve tourism policy and
legislation, specifically as it relates to tourism governance, climate change
and sustainable practice.”
BTB will additionally “support improved destination
planning and management including the collection of destination-specific data
and tourism statistics [and] provide direct support to low-income people and
service providers [in] the excursion sector to participate competitively within
the value chain.”
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