The Belize Tourism Industry Association discussed the current political crisis at its monthly board meeting today. Tourism Minister Godfrey Smith briefed the Association on the extent Belize's tourism product has been affected by the ongoing civil unrest. While BTIA stopped short of joining the chorus in calling for government to resign, they had strong words for government. Keith Swift reports from the Tourism Village.
Keith SwiftReporting,
Despite Belize's current political crisis and the blackouts and water outages - its business as usual at the Tourism Village where most tourists appear to be oblivious about what is happening outside of these gates.
Tourist #1: You all have a good country.
KS: You all didn't hear about the protests?
Tourist #1: No, not at all. There's a protest going on?
Tourist #2: We are on a class trip for seniors so we decided in the beginning of the school year, probably August of last year, to come here.
KS: You all didn't hear about the protests?
Tourist #2: No we have no idea. A protest? I didn't know that.
Tourist #3: We heard there was an uprising but we didn't understand what it was about.
KS: After hearing about the protest did you all have second thoughts?
Tourist #3: Well yeah I was concerned but the Captain of the ship said everything had already settled down and it was safe to come in so we did.
Tourist #4: We didn't hear until the captain of the ship told us.
KS: After hearing about the protest did you all have second thoughts?
Tourist #4: Yeah I did. I was kind of scared to get off but then they assured us everything was okay.
Tourist #5: We just heard a little bit from the bus driver on our tour..
KS: You all didn't hear about the protests?
Tourist #5: We just heard there some demonstrations, we didn't know what it was about.
Tourist #6: We will come back if they fix what the problem is. We don't want to be a part of the problem and if we come and support this country and spend our money here and know there are people suffering and the government is doing what they are supposed to do for these people, we become part of the problem and we don't feel that it is right that they are doing what they are doing and no we don't support it. In the future we will check out the news before we decide to come unless we already paid for the ticket.
And although the Tourism Village was bustling with activity today - appearances might be deceiving. Today wasn't a normal day and those who work here say business in the village hasn't been normal for a while now. Hayward Hulse is a tour guide.
Hayward Hulse, Tour Guide
"I am a cab driver. This is where I make my living this is where I support my family and I tell you for the part month and change man everything has dropped totally. The tourists come and speak to us and we ask them if they want to go somewhere and they hear about what's happening in Belize and they don't want to take a ride with us so this is how its affecting us and this is how we support our family."
Cecil Gill, Tour Guide
"A lot of tourists explain to me that they heard about it and at first they were apprehensive about it. They were kind of scared to come out. They have this fear that something will happen. It affects us because they don't want to come out and take the tours. They are afraid to ride with the taxi drivers out here because of what they hear on the ship."
And while tourists are here, some aren't because of the social unrest. Before the industry hemorrhages more - Belize Tourism Industry Association gave government what amounts to an ultimatum. Lucy Fleming is the association's national president.
Lucy Fleming, BTIA President
"It's a very fickle industry. We've been blessed with having all the ingredients that the tourists are looking for in Belize and we certainly feel that we can deal with the problems at hand. We don't feel that its out of hand but if the matter is not dealt with very swiftly, if there is not a resolution that comes about immediately, then we are going to see complications and then its going to be very difficult for us to deal with this. Once its out there then it's a matter of how we basically deal with those issues at that point in time."
Keith Swift,
All of the other civil society organizations have asked the government to resign and call new elections. Is there a reason why your board didn't ask that of the government?
Lucy Fleming,
"We have basically sent letters to the Chamber of Commerce and to the Unions in support of their initiatives. What we have asked government to do is to come up with a very very swift solution. As long as we see that that takes place, we feel that our industry will be safeguarded. If that does not take place and if it does not happen immediately then we'll make the next step."
A step which could be pivotal for this fragile industry.
