Last night on 7NEWS, owner of the popular Iguana Rana Bar at the Fort Street Tourism Village Roque Escalante was complaining that he was being evicted from the village because he couldn't pay his rent. And according to Escalante, the reason he couldn't pay is simple: he'd made no money for the past two months because cruise ship numbers are way, way down.
And indeed there were significant cancellations in those two months, mostly due to hurricanes - both real and threatened. But the larger truth is that cruise tourism numbers in Belize are on a sustained decline.
Sure, the Tourism Board predicts that by the end of this year 675,000 cruise visitors will have arrived. That's 20,000 more than last year but almost 200,000 less than the 2004 figure of 851,000. So critics say that instead of moving up to one million, we're moving back down to 500,000.
A worrying trend, and one the opposition has seized upon. Not surprisingly, the UDP says it's the government's fault for failing to come up with a plan of action to recapture the arrivals that have been lost in the last month and a half. In a release, the UDP calls it a hemorrhage and points to layoffs and closures at the Tourism Village.
Under fire, Minister of Tourism Godfrey Smith came forward to say that there's nothing he can do; it's a problem across the Caribbean. A problem caused - he says - by the subprime lending crisis in the states - where the credit crunch has sapped up all the disposable income of would be cruise visitors. Sounds a bit high flown, but Smith explained.
Hon. Godfrey Smith, Minister of Tourism
"Even if we were to offer the greatest of incentives or any possible thing that anybody thinks we should be doing, the cruise executives would say, 'it's the destination, its not you, it is the market forces in the United States. Right now we are not getting the biggest buck for our money from the American market going into the Caribbean, we're getting it in the Mediterranean. Therefore, the ships are going there. Our best advice to you, because we've taken delegations up there, public and private sector,' we've knocked on the doors of all the cruise lines, listened to all the executives and the message is uniform: it is a cycle, it is a downturn right now. The best advice is get ready for the upswing and be prepared.
What we have to do is to ensure that when the upturn swings back, especially in 2000 when we expect huger vessels should be back in this side of the market, that we have our act together and it is no secret that the cruise lines tell you very plainly, you're two main problems are: we want ship to shore docking, we want the vessels to be able to come up on dock. That is one big one and the second big one is the issue of the chaotic situation outside the village."
And to follow up on the Iguana Rana story: the popular night spot will not be opened this evening. As we understand it, the eviction is in effect, but Escalante is confident he can work out something when manager James Nisbet returns next week.
