And in the middle of this is the Belize Tourism Board. It represents all tourism interests – even as the bulk of its marketing machinery is focused on attracting overnight visitors.
But this week, with scores of FCCA Platinum members in Belize for their annual meeting, all the talk is about how to bring in more cruise visitors, hopefully taking Belize past the one million mark next year – compared to 600 thousand last year.
And once they're talking that volume, those cruise executive will sure want to know how to get all those guests ashore – and they'd prefer if it weren't by cruise tender. We asked Director of Tourism Lara Esquivel Frampton how she'll answer them:..
Jules Vasquez
"The issue of Belize not having a berthing facility will emerge in these meetings. A State Bank consultation is being held this evening - what will your answer be?"
Laura Esquivel Frampton - Director of Tourism
"Well the answer simply put is that we recgnize it - we are actually working right now to come up with a policy to provide a government in terms of how we move forward in looking for those kinds of investments for a berthing facility. We recognize that the government of Belize certainly recognizes that we need a berthing facility."
Jules Vasquez
"But where will this port be because so much of it depends if it will be Southern Belize or will it be at State Bank?"
Laura Esquivel Frampton
"Well I don't think it's as simple as that. I think you're bringing these up because these are proposals that have come to the government in terms of where these docking facilities will be. That is why I said that we are working very diligently to really best advise the government if a docking facility should come in and where that should be. The information that you have right now is based on where it has been proposed to us. We feel and I think the government agrees very strongly that at some point it should be the government who is saying this is where we want it."
The Platinum meeting moves to Belize City tomorrow where members will take those 12 controversial land based tours – which has FECTAB so angry. That organization issued a release today saying, quote,
"FECTAB is now forced to organize legitimate methods to correct this attitude and ill treatment of Belizeans by fellow Belizeans."
No word on what those methods are.
