The threat of Hurricane Emily scared 9,000 San Pedro residents inland but it also scared cruise ships away. 7NEWS has confirmed that since Friday no cruise ships have docked in Belize and none are expected this week. And while the ships will eventually return - a direct hit from a hurricane could devastate the tourism industry. And that is why the Belize Tourism Industry Association is taking no chances. Hoteliers and other stakeholders are participating in the second annual hurricane preparedness workshop. So how does the industry prepare for the unexpected? BTIA's President Lucy Fleming says vigilance is foremost.
Lucy Fleming, BTIA President
"Well certainly hurricanes have a tremendous effect on our industry because of the damage. Not only the damage but there is also the damage in terms of public relations that hurricanes create a fear in the traveler to come to destinations. So in fact we're very fortunate that Emily, as we know, that Emily didn't strike us and again we need to prepare because it's going to be a very active year. We're already seen from the presentation that 2005 looks like it's going to best 2004 and this what the geologists and meteorologists are saying worldwide. So certainly hurricanes have devastating effects but the more that we prepare, the more that we mitigate our damages, and the more that we can safeguard our assets - the better off we'll be in the future."
Deidre Shurland, C.A.S.P. Director
"Every year, as I said in my presentation, the hurricane season begins June 1st and continues through November 30th. And every year we are frequented by an average of about 10 storms, tropical storms and hurricanes. On an average we see about 2 or 3 of these storms becoming major hurricanes. The problem is that we are in a cycle that is very intense, in other words it's bringing more hurricanes to the region and more intense hurricanes to the region. This year there are predictions that there will be 3 intense hurricanes visiting the region. We've seen two so far and we are in the month of July which is very early in the hurricane season when see the peak of activity between the middle of August to about mid-October. So we are in a for a long hot summer and we need to prepare ourselves for that."
Shurland who is the Director of the Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (CASP) told us that in 2004 the Caribbean's tourism industry lost $6 billion due to hurricanes. The workshop concludes tomorrow.