The Belize Tourism Industry Association has a new president. This morning the often outspoken Lucy Fleming surrendered her two-year reign of the powerful lobby group to Rosella Zabenah. The new president was chosen by consensus at BTIA's annual general meeting which was held this morning at the Best Western Biltmore. While Fleming will best be remembered for her fight against the Carnival Cruise Terminal project Zabenah told us that her battle will be against the GST exempt status for the accommodation sector.
Rosella Zabaneh, BTIA President
"We have quite a lot of work to do. The GST that has come into effect, I think government still needs to hear from us and that part of the industry. And we want to see growth in the industry. We want to continue the work that we have been doing in the past. We felt that exemption was not the best solution for the industry. In our discussions with the Prime Minister, we still have a meeting scheduled with him in regards to GST on the industry."
Joining Zabaneh on the new board are vice presidents Hanna Cowell and Martha Williams; treasurer Pedro Perez; secretary Dionne Miranda, and Jim Scott who filled a newly created slot for director. We should note that Lucy Fleming wasn't voted out, the term limit for the BTIA President is two years.
