Between today and April of 2006, an average of 9 cruise ships will dock off the coast of Belize City every week. That breaks down to about 2 ships per day and industry insiders say those ships could bring over 20,000 passengers per week. But will those record arrivals mean more jobs for Belizeans? In the next couple weeks the Belize Tourism Board's Training Unit will certify 33 more students as trained tour guides.
After spending $425 on the course and investing three months of their time, most of them will probably expect that certificate to be a ticket to a job. Here is a reason to think again.
Keith Swift Reporting, [keithkswift@gmail.com]
This afternoon a frustrated Tanya Panting looked out at the three cruise ships docked off the coast of Belize City. Tanya is a trained tour guide, her ID is proof of that, and today she is dressed up for work but didn't get to go on a tour. In fact this single mother of three hasn't worked since June.
Tanya Panting, Trained Tour Guide
"There are three ships docked today and I just happen to be out of a job today just like most of my other co-workers. I have decided pretty much to talk up and let you know that this saying that people have about tour guides making a lot of money and it is a good job, it is not all good as people say that it is."
The reason she isn't on one of these buses doing what she has done for the last three years is because of this one paragraph. It's contained in a still unsigned statutory instrument which requires tour operators to have more than one tour operator on a bus. But as of now it is still unsigned which means it is still not the law, and not requirement.
Tanya Panting,
"The reason for me not being on a tour is because through the SI that they are trying to pass, what happens is that it would allow two guides to be a bus. They have not been complying with the terms and they have not been putting two guides on a bus and so therefore pretty much half of the guides that were out here this morning didn't get to get on to work, including myself."
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Cassian Aguet is the president of the National Tour Guide Association. He represents about 250 tour guides and says there are too many guides and too little regulation.
Keith Swift,
Are there too many tour guides in Belize right now?
Cassian Aguet, Tour Guide Association President
"I would say yes but there's a reason. If the BTB, or the people in charge, would make sure that the operators adhere to some of the agreements they have about how many people can go on the tours and how many people have to be on the buses then it wouldn't be so much of a problem. The rule is that once you have more than twenty people on a bus you should have a second tour guide and that is not adhere to. So then you find instead of having so many tour guides because a hundred buses are going out a day, its only half that amount that is working
They will always have a problem because if you continue sending only one tour guide then Miss Tanya and many other people that have been working for two or three years won't be able to work. And that is the reason why they spent all this money and time to become a tour guide so they'll be able to make some money and take care of themselves and their family."
And at least for now - Tanya panting still hopes there is a job for her in that vast sea of employment opportunities called tourism.
Tanya Panting,
"It's a field that I love and I have been doing it for quite some time and I don't see myself doing anything else besides guiding."
But for now there'll be no touring for her, only looking.
BTB's Deputy Director for Product Development Anthony Mahler told us this evening that they can't enforce the regulations because it isn't the law yet. He says the statutory instrument is on the desk of the Solicitor General waiting to be processed. As for the saturation of tour guides, well he says they train based on demand and there are no job guarantees. He says that if people want to be trained, the BTB like any other school, will train them. He says the industry is growing and eventually, it will need all the guides they can train.
